Thrive
by GreenBean2014
Summary: When mysterious events start happening to Oliver Queen, a well-known playboy in Starling City, he turns to an unlikely source for help. Felicity Smoak, VP of Technology at Palmer Technologies, is thrown in between something evil occurring in the city. When her and Oliver's paths cross, they are set to find out what is ailing Starling City, but they might just learn to Thrive.
1. But I Only Have Two Hands

A/N: Every Title will be homage to a song that is relevant to the chapter. Virtual cookies to anyone who guesses the song name.

* * *

He could blame his father for this – considering it was his idea for Oliver to assume the conveniently created position of Chief Operating Officer. The title may sound glamorous and powerful. It wasn't. In Oliver's head the title allowed him to be tied to the company in a non-shameful manner and managed to make it look like he was indeed contributing to society in a meaningful way. In the almighty Robert Queen's mind, it was a tile that would allow Oliver to attempt to grow up while learning the ropes of the Chief Executive Officer. The intentions were pure at one point. However, realistically, all the position allowed Oliver to do was hide away the shame of the Queen name during the day and keep his coveted trust fund. After all, Oliver did like to party and he very much appreciated food and shelter free of charge. So, that was how Oliver Queen found himself spinning in his oversized office chair in the middle of the day with solitaire on his computer screen.

"Mr. Queen," a sultry, feminine voice stopped Oliver in his handcrafted Teacup Ride. He looked up and meet eyes with his assistant, who was graciously appointed her position in attempt to keep him on task. So, really she was more like his babysitter. But once Oliver injected some of his reputable charm on her, she quickly turned tides and put another notch in the wall of hidden scandals of the Queen family.

"Mr. Walter Steele would like a word with you," she whispered.

"Umm…. Why?"

"I'm honestly not sure. His assistant called me and said he requested that you meet him in his office immediately."

"Who is he again?" Oliver asked.

"He would be the Chief Financial Officer and Vice President. He is taking the reigns of the company while your father is in Moscow," Janice answered.

"Right. Well, I guess I should go see what he wants," Oliver couldn't be more reluctant to go. In all honestly, he was going through his brain trying to figure out what he did wrong this time. It was odd, usually his father was the one to administer his reprimands. He figured maybe this was a message passed on down. Maybe, his father finally had enough of the useless lectures and was finally giving up trying to fix chronic scandal creator. Whatever, he had to go to the office anyway, might as well be now. He stood up from his blessed chair, grabbed his tie that had been thrown carelessly upon the couch, and attempted to tidy himself before making an appearance. Throwing an Oliver Queen worthy smile to his nervous looking assistant he made his way to Mr. Steele's office, taking a right out of his office.

"Ollie, his office is the other direction," his trusty assistant advised.

"Right. Thanks"

Was it him or were the hallways longer than usual? Maybe this was the business version of the walk of shame. Somehow he made it to the office, complete with the doe eyed assistant, flashing him a seductive smile motioning for him to walk right in.

"Ah, Oliver. I see that I was able to take you from your most busy day," the British voice was calming him yet unnerving all at the same time. One look at the man and Oliver was able to remember him being Robert Queen's right hand man.

"Well, you summoned me. I didn't see much of an alternative," Oliver threw himself into a guest chair that was positioned opposite of the calm CFO.

"Quite right. But, I'm pleased to see that you took the more favorable option." Walter continued his part without allowing the young executive to speak. "As you may have noticed, your father has been actively tying to get you more involved in the company. While you have neglected all of the previous attempts, Mr. Robert Queen was more than adamant that you personally attend to this engagement."

"I don't know…" Oliver started while never making eye contact with the most definite judging face of Walter.

"I believe there was talk of reducing your trust fund amount and taking away the allotted stipend."

"What does he need?"

Walter audibly chuckled at the younger man's antics. "There is this up and coming company – Palmer Technology. Its just starting, so we were surprised to learn of their new programs. We are interested in a new program of theirs. It would significantly help our networking here and quite frankly, it's needed. So, we need to broker a deal with them to contract out the program, along with their firewall program. I have a meeting set with their CEO at one. You'll attend it and work out a contact. His name is Ray Palmer. He's young and quite very ambitious. I do hope the two of you will get along."

Oliver stared blankly at Walter trying to figure out what had just been said.

"Oliver. I know you think you're being punished, but this isn't the case. Your father truly does care about you and wants you to succeed." Walter threw a sympathetic look to Oliver. When all he received was a blank stare, he continued, "Please do say something to acknowledge that you've comprehended a single word I've spoken."

"I get it. Dad wants me to grow up so he's trying to throw some responsibility my way. I don't like it, but I guess I can understand it," Oliver leaned back in his chair and audibly exhaled.

When a brief moment of silence passed, Walter decided to end the brief, yet necessary encounter. "Right, well, contract. Meeting. Dr. Ray Palmer. Palmer Technologies. one o'clock." With two significant head nods exchanged Oliver was dismissed to his own devices.

He took the elevator down to the lobby, and with a brief look at the clock he learned it was already noon. It was one of the rare days he had shown up to the building before one. So, figuring he had earned a lunch break, Oliver stalked off to the parking garage to his BMW. Throwing a quick text to Tommy, which had been replied to instantaneously, he took off to Table Salt.

The place was quite empty so, finding a seat wasn't a problem. Not that it would ever be a problem with him being a Queen and Tommy being a Merlyn. He sat down, and ordered a beer from the unapologetic flirting waitress, who he hadn't ever bothered to get the name from. He sat playing with his steak knife cutting the napkin with distinct harshness.

"Whoa buddy, what did the paper ever do to you?" His best friend slide into the chair across from him. The ever present playboy smile droning his face.

"My dad's an asshole," Oliver stated with no preamble and without bothering to look at Tommy.

"So, the napkin refused to what? Suffocate him?"

"Ha. Ha. No, this is serious dude. The old man wants me to meet with some corporate guy to do something with."

"Well that's stupid."

"Exactly! I mean, how can he expect me to make a contact? I'm like 23. I shouldn't have to make that sort of crap. How can he expect me to do any of this?"

"Right? How dare he make you do your job," Tommy laughed.

"Your dad isn't making you do shit, man. Until you have to do crap, you don't get to make jokes."

"Fine bro," Tommy held up his arms in mock surrender, "I guess you just have to suffer through the shit-meeting and pretend to know what you're doing. The other guy is sure to figure out you still don't even know the corporate hierarchy and will probably do most of the work anyway. Can we talk about something important now? Like, what's with Laurel?"

Oliver visibly relaxed at the change of topic.

"I don't know what's wrong with her. She's acting even more clingy than usual. It got worse when she found out I slept with Janice."

"Dude. You can't do that. Girls don't like that. At least do yourself a favor and don't get caught. Or at least screw someone who is worth it. The name Janice, not worth it," Tommy laughed. Their waitress returned with a noticeable change in her neckline of her shirt – showing more cleavage than should be acceptable in a restaurant. "Do you boys know what you'd like to eat?" She leaned over the table giving both guys a chance to fully appreciate everything.

"I'll have the steak, medium-rare, with a side of steamed potatoes and broccoli," Tommy flashed yet another smile.

"Make that two," Oliver also threw a charming smile along with some eyebrow movement.

"Coming right up," She leaned over the table once again purposely giving both boys a full show when collecting their menus.

"See? Her? She's worth it." Tommy threw out while both boys were clearly eyeballing her ass as she walked away.

"How's that McKenna girl you were checking out at the club the other night?" Oliver effectively changed the spotlight off of him.

"After several pleasurable evenings, we went our separate ways. But, I wouldn't mind a repeat."

The conversation continued and after the food had come and been fully enjoyed, Oliver finally managed to look at the time. Damn, it was one thirty.

"Damn."

"What?" Tommy inquired while simultaneously checking out a group of girls across the room.

"The meeting was at one."

"Oh. Well, that sucks."

"Yeah." Oliver paid for their meal and stood up.

"You should get going then."

"Well, we could get ice cream at the new parlor down the street," Oliver suggested.

"But you're thirty minutes late."

"Might as well make it an hour," Oliver laughed and grabbed his keys out of his pocket.

* * *

"Ms. Smoak, I'm just reminding you that it's one and you still haven't eaten."

Felicity jumped at her name being called, but relaxed once she realized it belonged to her ever faithful assistant Gerry. The blessed man stood by her side through everything, including the sleepless nights before a project was due. He fetched her coffee, scheduled her plans, and more often than not reminded her of the most basic necessities like food and sleep. Today had been such a jammed pack day and she seemed to be late for everything.

"Thank you Gerry. I have a granola bar. So, I'm set," she threw him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. Apparently it wasn't because he gave her a pointed look in return.

"Fine, fine. I'll go downstairs to get lunch," Felicity conceded. The report on the new software that tracked the company's financial database could wait an hour. Or thirty minutes. Maybe fifteen. She closed her eyes, and rubbed her forehead while releasing what was intended to be a relaxing breath. It wasn't. If anything it just emphasized all of the tight muscles that were ever present in her body. Maybe the lunch downstairs would do her good. Right as she was about to head out, none other than the infamous Sara Lance walked into her office. "Lis! How are you doing?"

Sara visited Felicity frequently at her work. The two had been friends for quite a while. So, it wasn't unusual to see the other Lance sister follow the young Vice President of Technology on a normal day.

"Sara! Hi-" and that would be the direct line to her office interrupting her.

"Felicity Smoak," she answered. With a few nods and a couple notes on a handy post-it note deck on her desk, the phone call abruptly ended. "Follow me," she commanded Sara.

She didn't appreciate calls down to department for incidents. However, since it was a smaller facility and her boss, Dr. Ray Palmer, was often engrossed in a project, she found herself taking on the tedious role of reporting said incident. The poor blonde was stretched thin lately. With her new software program in its works, the corporate leadership team duties, and having to put up with Sara's latest infatuations, Felicity found herself in the weeds. Sara hot on her heels, the blonde quickly grabbed a pile of blank incident report forms and strode down the stairwell to the first floor.

"Where are we going Lis? I'm all for adventure, but I'd like to at least talk a little," Sara half joked.

"Research and Development. It's always Research and Development," Felicity didn't even look up while she was filling out the preliminary report.

"Wait, isn't that where you were telling me all the hot guys live? Including Billy."

"We still two more flights of stairs to climb, please don't make them more painful than they already are," Felicity clicked her pen and shoved it into her pocket while maintaining her swift pace.

Upon entering the Research and Development department Sara was surprised to find that there were five to seven firefighters in the lab that Felicity had taken her to. They were talking to older gentlemen who were dressed in lab coats. There were also a group of much younger men and women standing off to the side talking amongst themselves.

"See, why do you get all the hot people?" Sara complained.

"Who? Those guys?" Felicity pointed to the group of guys, who were now shoving each other effectively causing a beaker to fall off the counter, shattering into a million pieces along with spilling its most probable hazardous contents onto the floor. She pulled out another incident report.

"Sure, might not be the brightest bunch, but they are definitely hot," Sara continued.

"I don't have time for this, I need to talk to the fire department. Feel free to talk to the hot guys," Felicity sulked off to find the fire captain.

While in deep discussion with the man, her cell phone went off.

"Hey, Felicity?" Ray had called her.

"Yes," she politely excused herself from the conversation with the fire chief.

"Anna stopped by and wants to go to lunch. My one o'clock meeting hasn't shown up, but in the off chance he does, would you be able to take it over?"

"Of course. But, what do you want me to do if he does? What's the meeting about?"

"It's the possible firewall and employee infrastructure software program contract. I trust your judgment."

"All right. Well, I'll take care of it. Enjoy your lunch with Anna," Felicity ended the conversation. Anna was Ray's high school sweetheart and current fiancé. She couldn't fault the guy for actually remembering to take a break. It seemed as though the world was against her eating. So, she decided to return to her office figuring she should stay there in the off chance the man did show up. With a final look in Sara's direction finding the other blonde to be flirting with all of the Palmer Tech employees, she hung her head in defeat.

"This is turning out to be such a crap day," she muttered to herself.

* * *

Oliver stood in front of the well sized building of Palmer Technologies. It wasn't by any standards a skyscraper, but it was decently sized for how small the company was. With a deep breath and a reminder that he wanted his trust fund, he opened the doors and walked up to the receptionist.

"Hello there. I'm Oliver Queen," he flashed his ever famous smile while learning over the desk. The receptionist didn't seem to fall for his tactics as her face kept its perma-bitchface position.

"I'm well aware of who you are," she turned the page her magazine.

"Right. Well, I have a meeting with a Palmer guy at one," Oliver tried another smile.

"You do realized it's three o'clock, right? And Dr. Palmer is out of the office now."

"I bet a pretty lady such as yourself could help me out."

"I'm not in charge of Dr. Palmer's schedule. Perhaps if you would've arrived on time," she pushed her glassed on the bridge of her nose.

"An emergency popped up," he was well aware of his smile fading. She stared at him for a prolonged period of time. Was it just him or was she staring into his soul?

"As I said, Dr. Palmer is not available. However, our Vice President has taken charge of your meeting. Ms. Felicity Smoak is in her office. You're free to go up to meet with her." She went to work to get his visitor's badge and motioned for his to sign the visitor's log.

"You could've started with that," Oliver grumbled, taking the badge and heading in the direction she vaguely gestured to. Yes, today was turning out to be bad day for almost everyone.

* * *

A/N: Hello everyone. I'll try to post once a week. Each chapter will probably be around this length. I'm going to aim for every **Sunday**. But to kickstart this work, I'll be posting multiple chapters this week. Any and all responses are appreciated. If there's a Beta out there who would like to help me out, I'd be forever grateful. Until then, it's just me. Sorry.

Most importantly, feel free to inbox me with anything suggestions or requests. (That includes tags, ratings, warnings, format, prompts, etc.)

**XPosted on AO3


	2. Loathing, For Forever Loathing

**A/N: Last Chapter's song: Wake Me Up - Avilii**

Back to the trenches. Maybe if she stared at the screen long enough or typed more aggressively, the report would magically finish itself. Sadly, it wasn't working. Another gulp of her cappuccino, and she was back to work on the doomed progress report. It wasn't lack of knowledge that was holding her back, it was lack of desire. Her head just wasn't in the right spot. There were too many more pressing tasks that needed her attention. Not to mention dear old Sara had left to go flirt with one of the Palmer Tech employees. Great another sexual harassment claim to Human Resources. Well, at least this time it wouldn't be her fault. In her defense that woman's boobs were abnormally large and she was trying to compliment her. Just like her previous assistant's ass. She still wondered how she managed to get another male assistant after that fiasco. Sometimes she wondered why she bothered talking to people.

"Maybe because that's part your job," a young man said in her guest chairs across from her. He was smiling and looking altogether flirtatious. His attire was khakis and a wrinkled dress shirt that sported a poorly tied tie. Who was this guy? And how did he get past security?

"Excuse me?" Felicity abandoned her struggling report and looked at the guy trying to size him up. But clearly he thought she was checking him out.

"The talking to other people. I believe that's required for your job. Actually I just think it necessary to function in society," he flashed her yet another what looked like was supposed to be a charming smile.

"I do talk to other people. Actually, some people think I talk too much which I find strange considering I spend most of my time behind a computer. Not that I'm doing anything unseemly on the computer, like the types of things that I used to have to scrub off of work computers from people who found themselves in awkward situations back when I was an IT grunt in college. I mean, I can genuinely talk to others and converse with society. I wouldn't have this job if I couldn't. But now I'm talking too much. And you look lost. Anyway, more importantly, who are you and how did you get in my office?" She sat on the edge of her seat clearly feeling uncomfortable with his presence. To his credit, the man hadn't run away from her during one of her common ramblings. He actually looked amused?

"I'm Oliver Queen, I have an appointment at one, and I walked in."

"And yet my clock reads three. Oliver Queen of Queen Consolidated?"

"The one and only," he leaned back into his chair clearly making himself at home in her office.

"Then surely you must own a watch or have enough money to acquire one."

"It's only two hours. Besides, I'm sure we could figure something out."

"With severe detriment to my schedule. Look, you may be used to getting what you want but I'm not playing this game. Go find another play toy to occupy your time," she knew about the prodigal son Queen's doings. The tabloids were always after the Queen and Merlyn family and boy were the two frat boys making it worth the journalists' time. More often than not they'd end up on the front page of the latest gossip magazine with their latest visit to the new clubs. Or ever better they'd show up on the front page of the newspaper, which Felicity actually read, sporting the drunken and disorderly look heading to the police precinct. It was exhausting trying to figure out what was the latest scandal. Looking at the Queen heir she could tell he was genuinely confused as to why he didn't get what he wanted at a hat's notice.

"So, you won't make the contract for us?"

"Wait, part of our agreement was that you'd have a draft of what your company needs so we are better suited to ensure our programs will benefit your business to their maximal potential. Since you clearly don't have a written list of needs, I'm assuming you hold the knowledge in your brain somewhere. We can't make a contract until we know what you need." This guy was already getting on her nerves. It just turned this thirty-minute meeting into a two-hour meeting at best.

"Of course I know what we need," Oliver lied. He was expecting to just come in and sign some papers then leave. He hadn't even opened the email Walter sent him that outlined the programs. Plus, the girl sitting in front of him looked barely old enough to drive. All thoughts of her sleeping her way to the top went out the window when she had started talking business. This girl had diplomas and certificates hanging all over her office. Felicity Smoak, magna cum laude Masters of Computer Sciences and Cybersecurity at MIT, dated 2009. That was last year. Oliver seriously doubted she had a social life. Clearly her communication skills we lacking, but in a way it was adorable. He should probably stop staring at her. Damn, what he wouldn't give for instantaneously receiving knowledge through osmosis or something. This was a mess and all his father's fault. He watched as she wordlessly pulled out a note pad from her desk along with some premade forms.

"Just follow me over to the conference room; we'll both be more comfortable there." She stood up, collecting her items, and waited for him to leave her office first. Upon walking past her traitorous assistant she muttered, "a little warning next time, Gerry." She was more than a little put out by Oliver. She just didn't have time for him. But really, who did have time for him not including the other frat boys?

"So, how long is this going to take?" he looked lost. It'd almost be cute if it weren't for the fact she knew this was going to be complete waste of time. She'd bet her top grade homemade personal computer that he didn't know anything about a purchasing agreement or a rights release. "It'll be a while considering we're doing this from scratch and I need a detailed picture of what your company needs." With more than one displeased look, she continued, "Why did you have somewhere to be this afternoon?"

"Well, I have a meeting with a business associate in an hour," he shifted and loosed his tie even more.

"Then perhaps it would've been in your best interest to show up on time." She opened the door to the conference room after ensuring it was empty, "Just take a seat and we'll begin." Let the interrogation begin.

"What type of operating system do you use now?"

"The one that has the big menu and mail on the first screen," he watched her clear tolerating face turn to a frustrated face, "It gives us usernames?"

"Are you asking me? Nevermind. What problems is your company having with it?"

"All these ads pop-up even when I don't click on them and there's a lot of spam mail."

"That sounds like a virus. Do you have a firewall installed?"

"I think?"

"So I take it I'm not getting a name of it. Do you have a database of your employees?"

"We have names of them. I think."

"Is it on a computer? On a program?"

"I think HR knows how to get ahold of people. Those people use computers," he was lost. He didn't pay enough attention to these things to answer the questions.

"There isn't a world that exists that would allow me to complete any of these forms or draft a contract with your answers," she had long since threw her writing utensil on the table and proceeded to hold her head in her hands. A migraine was starting to form. "Why didn't they send over the Technology officer? Or even the Information Technology officer? I'd even take the Operating officer at this point."

"I am the operations officer," Oliver finally let loose a true smile, or rather smug, at the idea she didn't know something.

"No, you clearly aren't because you don't know anything. I mean absolutely anything. You should've been able to answer some of the questions."

"That's not fair, I was able to answer some of them."

"Barely," she scuffed.

"Are you saying I'm bad at my job?"

"I'm saying I can't possibly do anything with the 'information' you've given me," she added the air quotations with her hands in order to exemplify her point.

"Well at least I'm actually trying this time."

"You're supposed to be an adult; you're past the point in life were you get awards for participation."

"Well at least I'm here," he stopped up angrily.

"Attendance awards are gone too." She matched his stance, but her voice remained eerily calm.

"Look, I'm only doing this because my dad made me. Why can't you just do your job so we can both leave," he was completely done with this girl. If he left now, he would have enough time for a nap before he went out.

"I am doing my job. Why don't you do yours? Until then, neither of us will benefit from this meeting."

"Look girl, I don't know who you think you are, but we're doing your company a favor by using your little system. I don't need this in my life. No trust fund is worth dealing with you for one more minute," he knew his voice was raised and his face was probably red with anger or frustration. Most likely both.

"Oh please, we'd be doing your company a favor. Clearly your father, or whoever is actually in charge there, actually knows what he is doing because they care about our products." She was making her way to the door, but Oliver was determined to leave before she did.

"Whatever, I'm leaving. I don't need this in my life." He pulled the door open and stormed out of the building not caring if he ever saw her again. Once he found himself in the courtyard in front of the building he realized what he had done. There was no way his father would be happy with him. No more money for him. In his defense the girl was way to stuck up and most certainly a know-it-all. Regardless whether he thought he should go back now, there was no chance in hell that she'd be willing to put the contract together. He'd be lucky if the original Palmer guy would even work with them again. Deciding it was too late to go back, he went ahead and made his way to his car to drive back to his office.

"Anybody want me Janice?" Oliver asked his assistant once he made his way back to Queen Consolidated.

"Mr. Steele asked to see you before you left to talk about the meeting," she noticeably adjusted herself in front of him. Nodding in her direction, Oliver looked at his desk and found the very draft of needs that Felicity kept harping about.

 _Great_ , he thought, _another reason for his father to cut off his trust._

Back to walking the ominous halls to the torture room.

"Oliver. I was so pleased to hear you actually went, even though it was two hours late. How did the meeting go?" Walter sat in his high top chair with multiple papers in front of him. What did everyone else always look so busy?

"I think it went well. She said she'd get back to us with the contract soon," the lie slipped out of his mouth before he even had time to think about. Someone should just hand him a shovel.

"Good. I'll be waiting for it. While your father may not say it, I am very proud of you for stepping up. You'll grow up to be a fine man," Walter smiled and leaned back in his chair.

"Well, uh, thanks," after a brief moment of silence Oliver excused himself and decided to just go home. Passing the tall gates of the entrance, he pulled into the long driveway of the massive mansion.

"Mr. Oliver, how was your day at the office?" Raisa, the household staff, welcomed him once he got to the doors of his house.

"It was fine. Where are my mother and sister?" he threw his wallet and keys on the conveniently placed table in the front foyer.

"They were in the back sitting room having a discussion. I'm going to go finish dinner; it should be ready soon." She quickly disappeared down the hallway to the kitchen.

Oliver sighed. His mother and sister having a "discussion" more than likely meant that the two were in a fight. This day never seemed to end. As predicted he found the two women bickering over what seemed to be a public appearance debate. No surprise there. Thea was always finding herself in trouble. Plus, she was a delinquent when it came to school. He was just waiting for the day when a truant officer showed up at the door waiting to be paid off by the queen family once again. After all, that was how Oliver managed to get into four Ivy league colleges.

"There you are Oliver. I was afraid you were going to miss dinner. How was work?" So his mother did notice him lurking in the back of the room.

"Pretty horrible. Walter made me do stuff and I don't think it ended well."

"Well, I'm sure Walter had his reasons and you probably did better than you think," she cupped his face in her hands and placed a soft kiss on his cheek.

Typical Moira Queen. She would always have a blind side when it came to her children. While yes, the two of them would often find themselves in trouble, they were still hers. Oliver was very well aware of her indefinite love and had even exploited it a few times in his college years. The family made their way to the dinner table where a decadent meal was served.

"So, what were you two fighting about this time?" Oliver broke the silence.

"Mom says I have to go to school from now it. It's stupid. Plus she says I'm grounded because I had a little to drink at the club last night," Thea continued playing with her food, never making contact with any of the family's members eyes.

"Thea. You're thirteen. You shouldn't be drinking anyway."

"You do it."

"I've been told I'm not a great role model." Oliver retorted.

"Neither of you should be drinking to the point of obviation in public." Moira Queen, always the realist. It was quite ironic really. She finally decided to be a mother to Thea this incident. Perhaps she had learned do to the way Oliver turned out. Regardless it was appearing that her efforts were made in vain. Thea would always do what she wanted.

"Well, mom, looks like you actually decided to be a mother today. Congratulations."

"Thea, I will not have this discussion with you again. Either eat your meal peacefully or go to your room." Moira was calm and kept her voice at a diplomatic level. Thea however had clearly been done with the whole ordeal as she quickly stood up and turned to the staircase with a huff of annoyance.

"Well, seems like you're doing a fine job mom."

"None of that from you. I'm just happy you finally seem to be taking some type of role in the company. I'm sure your father will be pleased," Moira praised. She continued to eat her dinner with grace. Oliver however stiffened with the thought that his father would eventually hear about his actions. Undoubtedly when Walter would find out that he had lied about the contract. He needed to leave and clear his head.

"Yeah, well, he's never cared what I did before. He won't now. You know? I think I'm full. I'm going to call Tommy and see if he's free tonight."

"Oh I'm sure that Tommy will be. Just be safe. And Oliver? Be easy on your father; he's trying now."

Moira's word had fallen on deaf ears as Oliver was already out of the dining room. So there she sat alone to finish dinner, both of her children lost as ever. She took a large sip of wine and audibly exhaled, shaking her head. Oliver had heard everything that his mother preached. The problem laid in his relationship with his father. Yes, it was a bit unfair to project it onto his mother. But, as far as he was concerned his mother was just as much at fault as his father was for his parentless childhood. At least he had Tommy. Tommy, who was as he expected, free for the night to go clubbing. His day may have been a failure, but at least his night had some hope.

Tommy and Oliver sat in the lounge in the very bad of their frequently visited club, Twisted. Oliver was nursing a vodka tonic while Tommy held something very colorful and no doubt fruity. The girls they had befriended for the night were either on the dance floor or shamelessly flirting with the two heirs. "Come on Crystal, one more time!" Tommy shouted from his spot in the booth.

"We're living the life Merlyn. This is exactly what I needed after my crap-day."

"You are so right. Oh by the way, how'd that meeting of yours go?"

"I bombed it. But, its fine. I'll never see that girl again," Oliver ordered another round of drinks, "keep them coming!"

"Whoa, wait a minute. There was a girl involved? I thought you we meeting with the guy who owned the place."

"Well, apparently since I was "late", that guy left and I was forced to deal with whatever was left behind."

"You were two-hours late dude. But it seems like you got the better end of the deal. You got a girl. What was she like? Was she hot?" another round of drinks was consumed.

"This girl was ridiculous. First of all, I'm surprised she can even drive. She looked like the age of my sister. She was all no nonsense and business like. That girl was seriously uptight; I doubt she even has a social life. When she talks, she just won't stop. Like, she was ranting for five minutes straight about how great her talking skills were. It was stupid and I blame her for my whole mess."

"Sounds like she must be a little something. You already won't stop talking about her. At least you have that in common with her,"

"Don't start with me Tommy," Oliver's wistful facial expression morphed into a frustrated one.

"Alright. I'm just saying you've never paid this much attention to a girl in a long time. On to the important part about her. Was she hot?"

"I guess. Her hair was tied back and she looked sleep deprived. I mean, her body stature was impressive. Nice ass and boobs. Not your typical computer nerd though. Blonde haired, , average height, great legs, and she was gentle with everything she touched. Her walk was purposeful yet delicate. I mean she wore glasses and had some quirks. If I weren't pissed with the fact she basically yelled at me, I might have gone for her," Oliver's gaze had transferred from the dance floor to Tommy.

"Wow. So, she was hot. Blonde hair you say?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Nothing, it just that there's a girl sitting at the bar that looks like your description," Tommy pointed towards a young girl at the bar, probably waiting for some drinks. Then, as if she knew she was being talked about, the girl slowly turned from her perch and made direct eye contact with Oliver.

"Damn it. That's her."

* * *

Felicity walked into the club, reluctantly following her friends Sara and Caitlin. "I don't understand why we're here. I have work tomorrow and goodness knows I need sleep," Felicity complain and was so ready to go home.

"Lighten up Lis! This was the only night Caitlin is free. Live a little and have some fun," Sara literally pulled the girl into the club, "Besides, we need to check out this club. Laurel keeps talking about it. Speaking of Laurel, she said she was going to be here tonight."

"We were due for a girls' night. And Sara's right, Dr. Wells was very clear he needed me back to STAR labs tomorrow," Caitlin was already sizing up the crowd. She wasn't really interested in man hunting, but it couldn't hurt to look for a guy to pair up Felicity with.

"You both suck."

"I wouldn't say that here, Lis. Now, why don't you go to the bar and grab some drinks? We'll be finding a spot to sit down," Sara ordered and then made a shooing gesture with her hands.

"Fine. But I'd like it to be known, I'm only here for you two, who are quite frankly the worst friends ever."

Felicity stalked off to the bar and ordered some sodas for the group. She adjusted her dress once again. It felt quite weird to be so dressed up. Yes, her position in the company required business attire, but this was significantly different. She felt so exposed and wasn't really comfortable with the club scene anyway. It would only be appropriate that her night sucked as much as her day. Just when she thought her night couldn't get any worse, she turned and made eye contact with none other than the pompous jerk that had walked into her office earlier that day. Great just what she needed, of course Oliver would be here. She immediately broke contact and forgot all about the drinks with the urge to flee overwhelming. She practically sprinted to meet up with her friends.

"Were are our drinks?" Caitlin asked.

"I guess I forgot them. I just saw the idiot that I had the meeting with today."

"Well it does make sense that he would be here."

"Agreed. But, seeing as we might die from dehydration soon, I'm going to go get our drinks. Maybe I'll find my sister along the way," Sara agreed.

Meanwhile, Oliver was still reeling from seeing Felicity in the club. Really, what were the odds that he would have to see her again? Even on the same day. He downed the rest of his drink and laid he head on the table.

"You didn't do her justice bro. That girl is mighty fine. I mean, she was smokin' hot."

Clearly Tommy approved. He wasn't wrong though. Felicity had done a 180 since he had seen her early that day. He hair was down, and the dress she was wearing fit her body perfectly. She was more than Oliver had expected. As he thought about the mysterious Felicity Smoak, he spotted his girlfriend making her way through a group of people towards him. Great, way to ruin his night as well.

"Hey Ollie. I was looking for you," Laurel slide herself right into the seat next to him and Tommy slid himself right out with an audible, "nope".

"Well, you wouldn't have to look far. I'm always here."

"But I hadn't heard from you all day. I was wondering where you went. You weren't even at your office this afternoon when I dropped by to visit."

"I had a meeting with someone. Walter made me go," Oliver's responses were clipped and forceful.

"But we needed to talk. You promised," Laurel insisted.

"You mean you needed to yell at me some more?"

"No, we needed to talk. You said you wouldn't sleep with other girls."

"Yeah, well, I said a lot of things."

A younger Lance popped out of nowhere right when Laurel looked like she was going to respond. Wow, those Lances kept appearing out of the blue.

"Laurel! There you are. I've been looking for you."

"Oh hey Sara. We were just talking about something import. Would you mind giving us a minute?"

"Fine. But I'm going straight back here so you can meet my friends," and just like that the younger Lance disappeared.

"What is there really to talk about Laurel? Aren't we done with this?" Oliver's patience had fled from him. All he wanted was a peaceful night. Apparently that was too much to ask.

"Oh we a far from done Oliver." Great, his full name was being used. He tried in vain to flag down Tommy who was fully engrossed with some girls on the dance floor.

"Fine. Get it out of your system."

"Get it out of my system? Excuse me Oliver. I deserve more respect than this. You can't just sleep with anything that moves. You aren't a bunny. This relationship may mean nothing to you, but it does to me and I'll keep fighting for us because it's worth it. I'm not going anywhere and I shouldn't have to hear from other people that you're sleeping with your assistant. I bet you weren't even at a meeting today. You probably went off to go sleep with some other tramp-"

"Hey guys! These are my friends Caitlin and Felicity," Sara cut off Laurel unintentionally. In all honesty, Oliver couldn't be more thankful for the interruption. That was until he heard the name Felicity and looked up to be meet with the shocked eyes of a young VP.

"Excuse me, we were in the middle of something here," Laurel sounded incredibly annoyed.

"Hi Sara," Oliver started, eager to move the conversation to anywhere else, "How are you doing?"

"Oh, come on Oliver. Be a little bit of a gentleman. Introduce yourself," Sara joked.

"Well, I didn't think I needed an introduction. I know two of you."

"Really? Who?"

"Hi Felicity," he measly waved, "this is Laurel, my girlfriend. Laurel, that is Felicity. The girl I had a meeting with today."

"Oh, so she's the tramp you've been sleeping during the work day. I knew you were sleeping with someone. But why her? You know in some states that would make you a pedophile," Laurel immediately got up and left the group before Oliver had time to even process what was happening.

"What?! I am not sleeping with him!" Felicity had found a way to speak given the proper fuel.

"Sweetie, she's gone," Caitlin pointed out.

"I'm going to go see if Laurel needs help," Sara excused herself and left with Felicity and Caitlin on her tail. Meanwhile, Oliver sat in his seat utterly confused as to what had just transpired in front of him. Tommy who had been off dancing with some girls finally made his way back to their booth.

"So, what'd I miss?"


	3. I Need a Woman Who Believes in Me

AN: I just want to make a huge shout out to my beta Tdgal1.

Last Chapter's song was: What is this Feeling? - Wicked Cast

Last night had been hell. Actual hell. After Laurel crashed their guys' night out, only to be followed by Sara, Oliver had retreated home to his personal bottle of whiskey. There was absolutely nothing on Earth that would make him stay in the forsaken club one more minute. So, as he walked into the hallowed halls of QC, he was excited to go to work. It gave him an excuse to be free from everyone and everything. He could just hide in his office, play some games, relax – "Oliver!"

Never mind. Crap, the contract. Walter was bound to know he lied now. Maybe that was why the British man was waiting for him in the lobby. Like a predator waiting for its prey.

"Hi Walter," Oliver mumbled in return.

"I wanted to talk to you about Palmer Tech." Here comes the judgment. Oliver nodded his head as they walked into the elevator.

"I just received the authorized contract this morning. It was quite inclusive to all our needs and well put together. Of course, there are a few things that we still need to work with them one, like the financials and rights to the programs."

Oliver was speechless. He hadn't done anything for the contract. If anything, he hindered the process to get it written. With a smile plastered on his face, Oliver nodded his head, thankful that at least Walter knew what he was doing.

"Since you did such a great job with the meeting and coordinating, you wouldn't mind taking point on this would you?" Walter looked genuinely pleased.

"Um… sure?" Oliver was completely lost. Thrilled he was back in good graces, Oliver still had to wonder how a 'well put together' contract was delivered.

"Great. Well, I have some things to attend to today. But make sure you reach out to them with our counter offer. I'd do it today if I were you. Be proactive," Walter stepped out of the elevator and gave Oliver a final nod before turning and heading to his office.

Wonderful. Now he oversaw this whole project. What did that even mean? Did that make him a project manager? That wasn't in his job description, or was it? He would have to look at his job summarization when he got back to his office or maybe he could Google it. This was turning out to be worse than the previous night. Worse than Laurel accusing of him sleeping with Felicity. Oh God, Felicity. He would have to talk to her again. This was terrible. Missing his stop, Oliver found himself back at his office as his hard at work assistant stopped to flirt with him.

Ignoring her advances, he was determined to hide and play his games on the computer. Maybe he would check his email. Moreover, he needed time to think about how the contract even came to be. It sure wasn't due to his workings, so either Walter was lying to him. Doubtful. Maybe that Palmer guy had something to do with it. Plausible. That guy needed the contract for his company to grow. Then there's the last option; Felicity. Clearly, she didn't do it, especially after last night's nightmare. His thought process was broken off when his cell phone starting ringing. One look at the screen told him it was his father calling.

"Hi dad."

"Hello Oliver. How are you doing?" his father sounded remarkably calm. Usually when he called Oliver, he called to yell at him.

"I'm doing alright. Why that sudden phone call?" he was sure his voice conveyed confusion and concern.

"I just had the most interesting chat with Mr. Steele about you. Apparently not only did you go to the meeting we asked you to go to, but you also landed a well put together contract with the company." His father's voice sounded perplexed seasoned with a touch of pride.

"Yeah. It was weird actually doing work, but it got done," he figured he had already dug the three feet, might as well go the full six.

"Good, son. I just wanted to tell you how proud I am that you've stepped up and taken some part in your leadership role. Great job, Oliver." That was definite pride he could hear through the phone.

"Thank you, dad," his father never complimented him. The whole phone called was surreal.

"Listen, I have to go back to my meetings. But, when I get back, I'd love for us to do something." Now this was the tone of voice he was used to. The sound of half-hearted promises and excuses.

"Alright. Bye, I'll talk to you later," and with a click the call was disconnected.

It was strange having his father call out of the blue. It was a nice turn of events, but it was still weird. Robert Queen was almost always too busy to talk to him unless it was due to something he had done wrong. Maybe things were turning around for his dad. Or maybe it was because he did what he was asked. Well, technically he didn't. He still needed to figure out who actually did it for him. Regardless who did it, he needed to call the Palmer guy. Hopefully he wasn't a pompous asshole.

"Hello. Is Dr. Palmer available? This is Oliver Queen from Queen Consolidated. I'm calling about your contract," he had called the main building and a woman's voice welcomed him. Well, looks like some of those speech classes had imprinted on him.

"Looks like you're in luck, he actually just got out of a meeting. I'll transfer the call now." Oliver played with the phone cord while he listened to the dreaded elevator music.

"Hello, Dr. Palmer speaking." Oh yes, he most certainly had the voice of an asshole.

"Hi, It's Oliver Queen from Queen Consolidated."

"Hi Mr. Queen! It's so great to hear from you. I was just thinking about the programs your company wants. I think you'll be incredibly pleased with what we have to offer." This guy sounded like an idiot with his too cheerful tone.

"I'm sure we will," after all, something was better than nothing.

"I assume you found Ms. Smoak helpful?" The obvious delight in Palmer's voice graded on him but he did not understand why.

"Yeah, Felicity was… helpful," the pieces were somewhat starting to fall together.

"Fantastic! She is just a Godsend. We really didn't start taking off as a company until I recruited her out of MIT. Felicity leading the negotiations will benefit both of our companies. Are you the one to contact?"

"Yes, I am." Oliver held his head in his hands. Seeing more of Felicity ensured more awkward moments. This was not okay.

"So, how about you stop by later today? Felicity is free this afternoon."

"I can make that happen." What choice did he have?

"Great! I'll let her know to expect you later today." The overly cheerful doctor hung up, leaving an unsatisfying deadline in his wake. Oliver transferred from holding his head to banging his head on the desk. Seeing Felicity was not on his to do list.

He needed to pretend to do his work now that another meeting had been called. Maybe he should look at the contract that apparently Felicity had written. After several failed attempts at logging in on his computer, he opened his mail. 3925 unread messages and an alert that his mailbox was full. Something else to ignore. A prolonged problem was a deniable problem, right? The contract was well written; so incredibly well written that he had no idea what it was even talking about. After a solid five minutes of trying to decipher the legal and technical speak, he gave up and decided he had earned himself a lunch… brunch break.

"Yes Janice?"

"I have a copy of the rights and trademark for the software contract. Ms. Smoak sent them over after our conversation," she held up a decent sized pile of papers. Another heavy worded document that would go over his head. The frown on his face growing deeper with each paper that waved in the air soon changed to a tight line of confusion.

"When did you talk to Felicity?" his head tilted, as he asked the question, which was a turn on for Janice apparent from the tomato blush on her face. "She called after your meeting had ended. We only talked briefly. She asked me if I could send over the document of needs from QC along with the latest Information Technology report. I went ahead and called the departments, used you name by the way, and sent them right over to her. I assumed you were aware," he head was bowed and her voice soft by the end of her explanation.

"Oh… those documents! Of course, I knew," he played along. He was getting used to this business lying. She immediately perked up and smiled.

"Well, Ms. Smoak was very helpful. I can't even begin to explain how thorough she was. Such a sweetheart too." _Felicity was a sweetheart? Was he the only person she treated like an idiot? What version of Felicity did he see?_

"Of course. Thank you, Janice," and yet another piece of the puzzle had been placed. Yet the picture became even more unclear. He needed to solve this puzzle one and for all. With a final smile towards his overeager assistant, he headed to the parking garage to go to Palmer Technologies.

* * *

Felicity sat at her desk angrily stabbing the keys on her keyboard. She was working on the new APEX software and was stuck on one algorithm that just didn't want to be solved. "Ms. Smoak," Gerry's head popped into the office.

"How many times have I told you to call me Felicity?" she responded on impulse.

"Right… Felicity. Mr. Palmer said he wanted to see you," Gerry had guarded her door as if she was a princess in a tower after receiving her request to be left alone. Apparently, that extended to her boss as well.

"Did he say why?" Felicity stood up from her desk preparing to go to Ray's office, or rather, his workroom.

"I believe it was over the QC contract." Gerry said stealing a glance at his watch.

"Okay. I'm going to head up now. Feel free to take a lunch break." Realizing the time, Felicity added in the suggestion. She often forgot meals as she worked; but Gerry did not need to do so.

"Glad you actually were aware of the time," Gerry smiled and joked teasingly.

"Ha ha. Very funny. Thanks, Gerry."

Felicity just nodded her head and smiled. Gerry was great and it was days like these that made her really appreciate him. She had showed up to the office around five a.m. and immediately went to work on the coding of APEX. Gerry, the ever-trustworthy assistant, showed up around six a.m. with a new cup of coffee. That man was a lifesaver.

Ray wanted to talk to her about the contract. Maybe he found out she had lied to multiple people at Queen Consolidated to make it happen. She wasn't really left with a choice. She had to get the information! Janice, Oliver's assistant, had been more than helpful once she had told her that Oliver was on board with everything. Janice was nice and didn't even stop her rambles. In a way, it was nice to know at least someone was competent at QC. The Human Resources contact was so sweet that he didn't even complain when she started to talk about cybermen. He seemed confused but gave her everything she needed. Efficiently, she drafted the contract sending it over to QC's CEO, Walter Steele. She loved the man's British accent and he was so nice. She barely got the copy on Ray's desk before Caitlin and Sara forced her from the office.

Their night out started off shaky and ended with an emotional throw-down. It was horrid. That Laurel girl playing the clingy girlfriend and calling her a tramp because of her jealousy had really been the icing on the cake. A pedophile? Really? Was that comment necessary? Oliver Queen was a known playboy so why would that girl even stay with him? How could you possibly expect a dedicated relationship from him? Felicity just didn't understand. It almost made her regret her choice to put effort into writing the contract.

Ray Palmer was the reason she pushed down her annoyance and wrote the contract. - Why should Ray, who had worked so hard to build up his company, lose a possible client due to the ineptness of someone like Oliver Queen? Once she had decided to write the contract, it wasn't a very far leap to the mission of protecting Oliver as well. While she may hate the man-child, she could relate. She had gone through her rebellious stage in college and that was with the added bonus of being forced to mature faster than others her age. With a single mother who worked as a cocktail waitress in Las Vegas, it was a miracle Felicity could even attend MIT. The full ride scholarship helped, but it didn't cover her cost of living. Working two jobs gave her the responsibility and drive to grow up. Then, after a few events in college, she was forced to change her ways again.

Maybe Oliver just hadn't had the need to grow-up yet. Not everyone was granted life altering circumstances that force one to change their ways and mature. She might not be able to change Oliver, but she could give him a chance. Clearly, he had put some type of effort into the project due to his father. It was a start. She just hoped she wouldn't have to work with him ever again. Her random act of kindness had been submitted for the quarter.

"So, you'll be working with Oliver Queen for this project," Ray announced from his workstation. He was talking while fixing some type of processor on his workbench. Felicity had to blink twice to even comprehend what he said; and it still didn't make sense. Her whole face screamed confusion and disbelief.

"I said that you and Oliver would be working on the project. I talked to Walter at QC and he agreed with me that you two would be the best option to keep communications between the companies open. Besides, you both did so well on the contract. There's barely any changes that need to be made from a technical standpoint which doesn't happen very often. Anyway, Walter was going to talk to Oliver and advise him to come over this afternoon, but you might want to visit Walter at some point as well. He said you were welcome anytime." Ray had put down his mini screwdriver and was now leaning against the table with his arm. He flashed one of his charming smiles towards her after finishing his spiel. Felicity, however, was much more agitated. This had gone from a calm and relaxed day to a rainstorm.

"I have to work with him?" It was very rare for Felicity to be at a loss of words. Yet, this seemed to be one of those instances.

"I mean, you don't have to. But, it would be preferred. Yes," Ray's face started to match hers of confusion. Ray had no idea what happened between her and Oliver; so, his confusion was earned.

"Oh. Okay. I can do that, I guess. Thanks for putting me in charge of this. I should probably get back to work though," Felicity gestured towards the door. Really, she was thankful for being put in charge of the negotiations. It was the first large deal she had been in control of. The fact Ray put her in charge really meant something to her.

"No problem Felicity. I trust you," Ray nodded in her direction then turned back to swearing at his processor.

It wasn't that she was placed in charge of the project that made her mad. Not even putting up with Oliver for the entire project. What it came down to was the fact this was just her fault. She had no one else to blame but herself. What was she doing trying to give that guy a chance at growing up? She certainly didn't want to try to help him mature and change. That wasn't her job; she wasn't a life coach. One thing was for certain. No more acts of kindness for her. No, the little old lady would have to cross the street by herself before she put Felicity in charge of her end-of-life care.

Instead of going back to her office, she opted to go to Queen Consolidated to meet up with Walter. The man was nice enough on the phone, she could start easy and work her way up to Oliver. Leaving a note on Gerry's desk, she jumped in her precious mini cooper and took off to QC.

Queen Consolidated's building was much taller than she could've imagined. It was a literal skyscraper. She hoped that she could even find Mr. Steele's office. The security kiosk was the first sight that welcomed her through the overly large glass doors. She politely introduced herself to the large men behind the desk and was immediately granted a security badge. The location of his office still confused her, even after one of the security fellows in the back had tried to explain to her where it was. He had apparently given up because he resorted to offering her an escort up. She quickly agreed due to the fear of getting lost in the labyrinth. So, there she sat. On the edge of her seat in the CFO's office meeting with the man himself.

"I just wanted to introduce myself in person and see if there's anything else we could do for you as a company," Felicity summarized. She might have been talking for a prolonged period before hand, she might not have. She wasn't sure at this point.

"Thank you, Ms. Smoak. Your diligence and attention to detail of this process has been astonishing. I can definitely see why Dr. Palmer recommended you. You are quite a remarkable young woman. Huge accomplishment for your position at your age. I must say, I am impressed," his voice was so smooth it could slice butter.

"Thank you, Mr. Steele. I've worked quite hard to get where I am," her soft but firm voice could be heard echoing in the large office.

"It shows. I think Dr. Palmer has alerted you, but I just wanted to let you know that I'm planning on putting Oliver Queen in charge of QC's liaison with you," Water leaned back in his chair.

"I was informed. Yes," her face reflected her ever present confusion; Felicity pondered if her face would be permanently stuck this way.

"I have the utmost confidence in you two. The contract you two managed to draft was impressive considering how quickly it was done," now it was Walter's turn to wear a mask of subtle curiosity mixed with doubt.

"Oliver was helpful in his own way. I couldn't have done it without him," she wasn't entirely lying. She wouldn't have received any of those documents without name dropping Oliver Queen. Not wanting to talk poorly about Oliver in front of his boss, she quickly realized she may have gone too far. Mr. Steele's face looked so dubious. She internally winced after reading his expression.

"Yes, well, I'm sure this project will go by smoothly and efficiently between the two of you," he settled after reading her reaction.

"Our programs speak for themselves, but, I'm sure this will be a great experience for everyone," she settled on those words. There wasn't much left to say, so she stood up taking his final words as a dismissal. He stood as well and reached out his hand for a handshake. She took his hand with her usual delicateness and flashed him what she hopped was a reassuring smile.

"One more thing Ms. Smoak; I do hope you are aware of Oliver's lifestyle choices and that you won't be privy to any of his latest endeavors." Mr. Steele mentioned quietly, yet sternly, with a serious look.

She almost laughed at his statement, but was immediately set into a cloud of uneasiness when she realized he was completely serious. She nodded her head in deference and walked out of his office, wondering what she had gotten herself into.

Oliver finally made it to Palmer Technologies after stopping for a quick bite to eat. He did a once over on himself and settled on the idea that it could be worse, then walked straight into the building. Security didn't give him such a hard time this round, but it was probably due to the fact he was following their rules. Remembering Felicity's comment, Oliver alerted Gerry, her assistant. "She's ready for you, Mr. Queen," the timid man announced.

Oliver nodded his head in thanks and walked into her office.

"So, I hear we're business partners now," he greeted her. He noted she was hard at work. A concentrated look was on her face as he entered.

"It would seem so," she threw him a smug smile while putting down her work.

"Does this mean we'll be working with each other from now on?" Did she even want to work with him? Why did she do all that work without even taking the credit? Oliver wondered about Felicity Smoak.

"Working on a project as a team seems to require us to," her voice was soft and gentle.

"You managed to draft a contract, purchase agreement, and copyright notice without me. You're probably better off without me." For a second he saw the agreement on her face before she put her 'business' face back on.

"While yes, some things would be much quicker without your presence, I do need your participation in our negotiations," she was outright chuckling now. Her laugh flowed through him like a river.

"I guess I should show up and work a bit…" Falling back on his charm, he smiled as he commented.

"Probably." Oliver was used to girls showing desire when he flashed his smile but Felicity seemed unfazed by his charisma.

"Probably," he nodded in agreement. Her smile was infectious. Dear God, was he falling for this girl? Why did he have to fall for the one girl who was utterly and completely out of his league? But she had to feel something for him, right? She was the one who protected him from losing his trust fund. He realized their laughs had calmed down to silence. He had been stuck in his thoughts and she seemed to be as well. She was looking at him with an indistinguishable look. It wasn't the doe eyed looked he usually got from girls, this look he couldn't quite make out.

"So, about that contract…" he studied her face and received a nod of encouragement to continue his sentence, "we should probably talk at it."

"We probably should," her voice was almost inaudible.

"Walter thinks I actually had a part in it," another small nod, "and it even earned me a positive call from my father. You covered for me." Oliver paused and Felicity added.

"and did all your work."

"That too. Which begs the question, why?" She leaned back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest.

"It's simple. The purchase and advertisement is good for Palmer Tech. I did what I had to make sure it went through." Her lips were moving saying one thing, but her face was telling a completely different story. She was hiding something; he just didn't know what.

"That's it? That's the only reason why?" he was going to get the truth out.

"That's it," her back had straightened and her face went back into the position of a no-nonsense business woman.

"Well then. I guess I'll just say thank you and leave it there," he recognized that position of hers. All the girls he had cheated on give him the same body language when they had caught him and were clearly the one leading the conversation. This was like being in a relationship without any of the benefits. Any at all.

"You're welcome; we appreciate your business," she was smirking. Oliver saw the way she looked at her computer hinting that she needed to return to it.

"I should probably go back to my office. I have some work to do," he stood up and moved towards the door.

"Right I'm sure your shooting game is truly missing your presence." She wore the largest smile that he had seen on her to date.

"What?" he laughed.

"If it's on the internet, I can find it."

With those final words of wisdom, Oliver went back to his office and in determination to prove Felicity wrong, prove his father wrong, hell, prove everyone wrong, he decided he would work. That girl was going to give him a run for his money. Which was saying something considering how much money had had, or rather what his parents had. He threw himself in his desk chair and opened his email to look for the budget reports that he was constantly sent and ignored. Maybe he could look at it to see if it made any sense and sign off on it. Yes, Oliver was starting to put forth effort.


	4. I Try to Speak But Nobody Can Hear

**AN: Last Ch's Song was: Just Stay Here Tonight - Augustana. This week's song is really special.**

* * *

"Burning the midnight oil?" Ray's voice startled Felicity. She was in the middle of compiling the data for all her algorithms for the APEX report. "I didn't realize it had gotten to be so late," she blinked wearily when she tried to make eye contact. Her eyes had clearly adjusted to the dark and the brightness from her computer screen.

"You'd think that the darkness would've clued you in," Ray laughed. He leaned over to turn on her office lights, both of them squinting once the bulb had achieved their maximum potential. "Doesn't your assistant try to get you home on time?"

"He probably tried to and I just ended up sending him home instead." She took a large stretch in her chair, bones cracking with each limb moving.

"Well, I'm not leaving until you do. So, either you go home, or there with be two very tired Presidents tomorrow at the board meeting," Ray wasn't dressed in his normal business attire. Instead he wore a loose t-shirt with some sweat pants. "Don't you have a fiancé?" Felicity decided to respond.

"Anna's on a trip for Doctors Without Borders. She'll be back in a couple weeks." Ray replied with a grimace. Felicity knew that he hated being away from Anna but was also proud of her work with such a fine organization.

"Short visit this time?" Seeing his nod and smile, Felicity patted his arm. Anna was a cheerful woman who had become a great friend to Felicity.

"Very. I can't stand being away from her."

"I understand," in all honesty if there was someone like Anna or Ray out there for her, she wouldn't want to leave their side either. Sure, she was young, but with her job and work ethic, she was lucky she had friends. Forget about finding a boyfriend.

"Yeah, well, until she comes back it's just you and me. We should probably head out," he grabbed her coat and led her wearisome body to his own car. He didn't like the thought of her driving while so tired. Felicity mumbled a "thank you" and allowed him to guide her into the passenger seat of his Mercedes. The soft leather of the seats along with the gentle movement of the car must have lured her to sleep. Her eyes opened to see her townhouse after feeling Ray's gentle shaking.

 _I hope I didn't drool_ , she thought, _or snore_.

After Ray left her at her doorstep and bid her goodnight, she decided to curl up on her couch and watch some TV. Of course her body would betray her and be wide awake at eleven p.m. She was tired, but her body was ready to go for another twelve hours. Unfortunately, she needed to be back to work early the next day. Thankfully, she had the perfect combination of mint chocolate chip ice cream and some Dr. Who to help her go to sleep.

She felt like she lived in a perpetual tiredness. Ray had recruited her right after she graduated from MIT. He actually found her at one of the school held career fairs. Felicity felt like it was luck that had landed her the job no matter how many times Ray told her that it was her talent. Computers were all she knew now. They kept her company and she knew them like the back of her hands. Plus, they couldn't run away from her when she started rambling or said something inappropriate on accident. She went to work early and came home late.

Work was essentially her life now. She didn't really have a social life; forget about a love life. The friends she did have seemed to be alight in all three sectors of their life. Caitlin had he job at star labs, her friends inside and outside the job, and a fiancé. Sara had her job at the local gym as a trainer, had a plethora of friends, and an equal amount of romantic endeavors. Then there was Ray who considered himself a friend of hers, but was really her boss, had a decent amount of friends who were always ready for his attention at the drop of a hat, and even had a beautiful fiancé. Anna was an extension of Ray. Great, she had gone through her entire list of people who she could consider a friend in less than five minutes. Man, her life was sad. She went to work and came home to her friend Netflix everyday.

If Sara were there, she would be forced to go to bars and pick up strangers every night, but that didn't interest Felicity. No, she would rather to actually get the name of a person who was going to take to bed. She wanted a relationship like Anna and Ray have. Maybe not at that moment, but eventually. Oliver was a lot like Sara in a way. He'd sleep with anyone who made a move on him. How did he manage to live like that? He literally just jumped from one person to the next. There was no possible way he could actually develop a meaningful relationship with someone. He wouldn't be able to get to know anyone. That also meant no one really got to know him. But really, how much could she really know about him? He sure looked happy being surrounded by all the girls and his friends at the club all the time. Her life would never look like that. She'd never willingly go out to a club in search of someone to hook up with.

Maybe it was for the best. The last time she was forced out of her routine, she had the unfortunate luck to run into that douchebag Oliver. That boy was a mystery. She knew he was irresponsible and had essentially no work ethic, but when he returned to her office the other day he looked sincerely thankful for her work on the contract. She hadn't expected that. In all honesty, what she had expected was to never see him again. Then she saw him twice. Just her life. It really was something that would only happen to her. Oliver wasn't just a man-whore that the gossip mill made him out to be. That just proved her right, she really didn't know him. Not everything could be bought for a price: a lesson he would soon learn. There was something more to him. What it came down to was the fact he was a mystery; and mysteries existed to be solved.

The clock read midnight. She had been lost in her thoughts for an hour. Great, now her brain was wide awake as well. How could she have gone from dead exhausted to alert and awake at the turn of a switch? Usually she needed coffee to make that transformation occur. As she watched the doctor be forced to travel companionless and remark on his loneliness, she commented "me too, me too."

She really was lonely. She had all of three people in her life. Each of them had very active lives apart from the relationship they held with her. Maybe she should try to make new friends. There was a guy named Curtis in the Research and Development department who didn't force her to fill out as many incident reports as the others. He could make a decent friend. Heck, there was even Gerry she could try to socialize more with. How was it possible to be surrounded by people daily, yet still feel so alone? If she disappeared would anyone notice? A cell phone phone ringing pulled her out of her deep thoughts, or more accurate, self wallowing. One look at the screen told her it was her mother.

"Hello mom," she greeted very dully. She may be awake, but no one could really ever be awake enough to talk to Donna Smoak.

"Felicity! Sweetheart! How are you doing?" The overly cheerful voice pierced her ears.

"I'm fine, mom. It's midnight though. What are you doing up?" Why she asked her social butterfly mother such a question was another mystery. Her mother was the complete opposite of her. She didn't sit and count her friends on a Friday night like her daughter just did.

"Oh, sweetheart, it's midnight on a Friday night. Of course I'd be up. I was out with friends, just like you should be. Is that Doctor Who I hear in the background?" Felicity could almost see the look of displeasure across the phone. She quickly changed the channel to some reality TV show before answering the question.

"No, mom. I was working all day, so I really didn't feel the need to go out." She exhaled loudly and burrowed further into her couch.

"Sweetie, you need to let loose. Get some friends, go out, have fun. You're young and you're beautiful. It's time for you to develop a social life. You know, I've never met any of you friends. I'm starting to doubt they even exist." Felicity almost laughed at the irony of what her mother had just said. It truly was paradoxical that she'd say that right when she was just thinking about it.

"They're real mom. I just didn't want to go out," her hand ran through her long, blonde hair. Knowing her mom was right didn't make her feel any better about her situation.

"Alright. I just want to make sure you're happy there. I'd love to come visit when I get enough money to fly out." Her mother had resigned herself to Felicity's reclusiveness.

"That's fine mom. I'm okay." _I really am okay. I have a great job, nice townhouse, amazing boss; and I'm financially stable. Most people can't say that._

"Well, I'm just checking in on you. I should go to bed now, early day for me tomorrow." An early day at work did not stop her dynamic mother from going out and enjoying herself. This evening was getting more and more sad by the minute.

"Thanks, mom. Goodnight." Suddenly the phone felt heavy in her hands and her eyes felt dry. Finally bed was calling her and Felicity was going to answer.

"Goodnight, love you." Yes, as many differences as they have, Felicity knows her mom does love her and would always be there for her.

"Love you too." Felicity ended the call and turned off the TV. Who knew her mother would act as a sleeping aid? One conversation with her and suddenly Felicity was exhausted beyond belief. She changed into pajamas and slid into her bed. Right as she was about to turn off her bedroom light, her phone began to go off again. This time it was Curtis. She groaned before answering, this was a cruel joke on the universe's behalf. Really? How many more coincidences did she need in her life?

"Hi Curtis. Please tell me there's a really good reason you called me at one in the morning." Knowing Curtis would not call at this time for no reason, she waited to see what the problem was.

"Ms. Smoak, you have to come in. There's been an incident in the lab and Dr. Palmer isn't answering his phone." Heart in her throat, Felicity took a deep breath. Ray was known to lose all track of time when Anna was not there to rein him in.

She immediately hung up and gave up the hope of ever getting sleep. It was pointless to hope for something that wouldn't happen. Sleep wasn't in her near future. Nor was having a social or love life. So, maybe people would notice she was gone – there wouldn't be anyone to fill out incident reports.

* * *

Oliver was forced to stay in with his family rather than go out with Tommy. A perfectly good Friday evening, wasted. They sat at the ever growing dinner table. Was it just him or did the table seem to grow in length effectively putting more distance between himself and the rest of his family? Once again, dinner was barely touched due to bickering between his mother and Thea. "Oliver." He looked up from the smiley face he created on his plate with the food upon hearing his name be called by his mother.

"What?" His mother calling his name brought him out of his daze.

"I've said your name three times." Moira announced. She had a pointed look on her face and was nursing her second glass of wine. That meant this particular dispute with Thea had actually gotten to her.

"Sorry, I didn't hear you." _Nor, if he was to admit it, did he want to hear._

"Are you alright?" _How could he be alright with his night ruined and another family fight? Was his mom serious?_

"I'm fine." He distractedly turned the food happy face into a frown.

"If you insist, dear. I was talking to your father and he just couldn't stop talking about how much you've really put yourself into the business. We're both so proud of you. I just want you to know that." Glad they were proud, Oliver still felt some annoyance at the statement. Proud because it was Queen Consolidated related but what if it had been another venture?

"You're only proud because I'm settling for following the line of the family business. What if I wanted to do something else?" Oliver already knew the answer, but for once he decided to ask anyway.

"What else is there?" Naturally, his family did not realize there was more in life than selling things and making deals.

"I don't know. Like, what if I wanted to run a nightclub?" Moira actually let out a laugh at that. It was probably the first real laugh she let loose in a long time.

"Since when did you want to own a nightclub?" Moira Queen smirked at the very idea.

"I don't. I'm just saying you and dad always got mad at me showing any interest in anything other than QC." Oliver went back to mutilating his frowning face of food.

"That's not true. So far, you've only shown interest in girls and alcohol. Come to think of it, running a nightclub doesn't sound like a far stretch from the life you lead now." Another glass of wine was emptied.

"I don't really see myself owning a nightclub. That was just an example. I don't know, I just know I'm not sure I want to take part in the company." Oliver surprised himself by continuing the conversation.

"Then why the sudden interest in it now?" She lowered an eyebrow, a tell that she was not going to let this topic drop willingly.

"I don't know. I just thought it was time to grow up. Maybe. I don't know." He played with the sleeves of his shirt.

"Well, I like this Oliver. This one has a less chance of collecting all the STDs," Thea interjected.

"Thanks Speedy," Oliver grumbled shoving the potato that played as an eye on his happy face into his mouth.

"I hate it when you call me that." Thea had finished eating, but hung around for the end of the family conversation.

"I'm going to go up to my room. I think I'm done eating," Oliver stood up from his position at the table and started to the large, winding staircase not waiting for any of the girls to respond.

It was true, he had been putting a little more effort into Queen Consolidated lately. Though, he really wasn't sure why. Something had pushed the need to. Or rather someone. Felicity Smoak was unlike any of the other girls had met. She wasn't easily swayed by his looks. Every time he had met her she never fell for any of his moves. From the first meeting, Felicity made it clear his flirting and charm would be fruitless. Seeing a woman, who was clearly successful, stand on her own was a new concept to him. It was refreshing in a way, like a breath of fresh air. . No girl had ever really dug into him like that unless he forget their name or slept with their friend. It was odd, Felicity was different. So, perhaps he had been working a little harder to try to get on her level. Or rather, a little closer. Then he could get her attention.

The revolving door of girls was starting to get exhausting. Even his relationship with Laurel was draining. He knew she was just dating him for the namesake. There's no way a sane girl would go out with him knowing he had no intentions of settling down anytime soon. So, that left the money and the name. There were plenty of girls who wanted to be with him for those reasons. In all honesty, he had dated Laurel just to get some of the other girls off his back. If she could use him; he could use her. The girls surrounding him would wind up as one night stands. He wouldn't even take the time to remember their names because he knew he couldn't see a future with any of them. He was well aware he was called a playboy. He just figured he might as well live up to it.

Still, he wondered what it would be like for someone to see him as just Oliver. Not as a Queen, not a playboy, not someone with power, not a good time, but simply Oliver. Considering he didn't even know what "just Oliver" looked like, it would be difficult for a woman to try and find out. What would it be like to be like Felicity Smoak? She was respected and loved for being herself. Men must be throwing themselves at her to get her attention. Men who have made a name for themselves without their family's money and power. She was clearly way out of his league.

Tommy had certainly lived up to the name. The two boys had been friends for as long as he could remember. But, recently, Tommy had been acting strange. Ever since Oliver took a little more of a role at QC, Tommy had distanced himself. Tommy didn't have a problem living off his father's money and doing the party scene. In fact, he was probably annoyed that Oliver has been going in a new direction. He knew that his friend really didn't agree with following in their fathers' footsteps, but Oliver didn't think that meant he would walk away from their friendship. Or, was he, himself, walking away? He hadn't been around that much lately, and with working a little more, he just didn't have enough energy to go out clubbing every night. Hell, he hadn't even seen Laurel since she yelled at him. Not that he was complaining.

Maybe a relationship couldn't be sustained when its foundation were lies and affairs. His self evaluation made him realize that his ego would be probably more bruised than his heart if Laurel ever left him or cheated on him. And that was a sobering thought. Laurel couldn't be truly happy with him for long. Granted, it's not like he had long term plans with Laurel anyway.

In all honesty, he was constantly surrounded by people, but it felt like no one really heard him. They would all show up for his money or stay a while for a good time, but he didn't have anyone to share his thoughts with or how he felt. Tommy would always make a joke when a heavy topic even tried to surface its way to the conversation which would prevent them from saying anything too deep to each other. Then there was his family. Thea was too young and self absorbed at her age to truly listen or care for what he said. His mother was only interested in his endeavors to further his way up the family business. Then, his father was always in on business trips and was never available. Laurel was too busy yelling at him for his wrong doings to even hear a word he said. No one listened. This was his life; he was fading into the background.

His night of self examination had Oliver slightly depressed upon realizing what he had discovered. People saw the money, the looks, the constant girls, and assumed he was living the best of lives. Now wonder no girl could stick. How can you have a real relationship with someone when you don't trust their motives?

"Mr. Oliver, Ms. Lance is here to see you," Raisa stood in his doorway. Laurel sure had great timing. He felt bad enough and she picked now for a lecture. Did he even have enough energy to come up with another lie?

"Thank you, Raisa. Tell her to just come on up." He continued to play with the ends of his shirt and started pacing in his room. She was here to yell at him, might as well get it over with. He was preparing himself the judgmental face and immediate scolding, but what he received was a scary calm face that held a small smile.

"Hey Ollie, I'm glad we can finally see each other," she placed the tiniest of kisses on his cheek then sat down gracefully on his bed. He rubbed the back of his neck and grimaced before he started talking.

"Laurel, look I -"

"It's okay Ollie. I understand; I knew what I was getting into when we started dating. I just want to let you know I'm not going anywhere," Laurel cut him off. Really? Glad she was calm. But, what was doing here? Even better, why was she so calm? There were a thousand reason for her to yell at him. Since she caught him off guard with her demeanor, Oliver was at a loss for words..

"Uh… okay? Thanks?" His brows wrinkled in confusion and the pacing stopped.

"Let's just move past this okay? How about we go out for dinner tomorrow?" Had he fallen into a twilight zone? None of this made sense.

"Sure?" He was definitely not used to this version of Laurel. All he knew was the high strung, uptight version.

"Great. Well I have to go home to be with my sister. I just wanted to let you know that we're okay." Laurel gave him a strange smile as she looked toward the door.

"We are?" This was the strangest conversation he has ever had with Laurel, maybe with anyone.

"Yeah, we are. Bye Ollie," she tossed him a small wave before leaving the room leaving a baffled Oliver in her wake. He honestly didn't know what to make of the transaction that happened. Instead of trying to make sense of it, he opted to throw himself on his bed. Tommy might've had some thoughts towards Laurel's strange behavior. So, he called him. Oddly enough, the call went directly to voicemail. That was weird since Tommy always answered his phone. Oliver was just about to leave and go to Tommy's house when Thea walked into his room. Was his room the meeting room now?

"Hey, can I talk to you?" She threw herself next to him on his bed. Her body was rigid and she wore a heavily set frown on her face.

"Sure. What's it about?" Oliver decided to take his chances.

"Mom is being a bitch." Thea was never known for holding back.

"Speedy!" Feeling slightly hypocritical, he still scolded her.

"What? She is. She grounded me and is actually sticking to it. I had plans tonight." She flung her body on the mattress so she was laying down and staring at the ceiling.

"Well, you did steal a car." Oliver said to her with a wry smile.

"Hey, at least it wasn't a police car, Mr. Arrest Record," Thea reminded him saucily as she played with her hair.

"Touché." He honestly had no right to throw a stone living in his big glass house.

"I'm so bored." She rolled onto her stomach with her legs flying in the air.

"We could play a board game. Haven't done that since you were little." He could give her this. He had just been complaining about the world existing around him, this was a chance for that to change.

"That's so lame. But, if you really want to…" Hearing the wistful tone to his sister's voice, he replied.

"I want to spend time with you." For a split second he saw the little girl who used to run after him.

"Did you get hit on the head? What's been going on with you lately?" Thea eyebrow lowered as she leveled a deep stare with him.

"Nothing, I just miss my kid sister." He was lying and she knew it. But, he didn't care. At least he would spend some time with her before she ended up in jail.

"Fine. Then we're watching a movie. And you're going to tell me what's going on with you because I know there's something." She grabbed his arm and pulled him out of his room.

"Alright Speedy, I'm coming, no need to be rough," Oliver laughed. He could handle this. Spending some time with his little sister was just what he needed to get out of his weird funk. Maybe he could even stop by Palmer Technologies the next day to visit Felicity. She might be able to answer some questions or at least put him in a better mood. Yes, that was his plan. He'd visit Felicity.

* * *

"And that is why you should never open emails from senders who have body parts in their email address," Felicity lectured two very guilty looking R&D scientists. They were standing in the Research and Development department. It was always Research and Development that caused the problems. She had arrived to work at two a.m. to a crashed server that had been infiltrated with a complex virus. Protocol stated to send the entire R&D department into shutdown mode. As effective as it was to not be susceptible to any cyber attacks, it had also shut down multiple experiments that led to a disastrous night.

Curtis waited behind for Felicity after the scientists had clearly been dismissed. "That was amazing Ms. Smoak. You totally killed that. I've never seen someone code as fast as you."

"It's Felicity, Curtis. We've worked together for quite some time. You might as well call me by my first name. 'Ms. Smoak' sends me into a panic because I think my mother is around. And if you knew what my mom was like, you'd be scared too. Not that she's a horrible person, we just don't get along. She's very loud. Like my loud voice. Not that I would use my loud voice on you. Unless you truly deserved it. But I don't think you'd do something like that. And you're laughing. I'll stop now." She felt her face warm up with embarrassment.

"Are you okay Felicity?" Curtis didn't even bother to hide his mirth.

"Yeah, just tired. I'm going to go submit these reports so they can be looked at on time. Thanks for sticking this one through." She decided there really wasn't a way to salvage the conversation without digging her hole any deeper. So, he just gave him a sad smile in apology. Looking at the lab, Felicity sighed deeply.

"No problem. But do us all a favor and get some sleep soon." Considering it was the stupidity of this department that caused her the sleepless nights made that statement almost laughable.

"It's not for lack of trying Curtis. See you later." Waving her arm as a farewell, she made sure that she had everything that she came with to the lab before leaving.

She wearily made her way up the staircase to her office. Now her body was starting to show just how exhausted it was. All of the energy had been depleted from her body. She hadn't managed to sleep since Curtis called her into the office. It was now lunch time and she was tempted to fall asleep on the couch in her office. Maybe a few minutes wouldn't hurt.

"Felicity… Felicity… Fe-lic-ity" a sing song voice was pulling her out of her nap. She blinked a few times to regain her surroundings and readjusted her glasses. When she saw who had woken her, she was half convinced she was still asleep. Oliver Queen was perched on the coffee table across from her couch looking straight at her.

"Oliver?"

 **AN: So, this is as deep as I want to get emotionally. They're lonely; but they're not depressed.**


	5. Not an Inch More Room to Self-Destruct

**AN: Last Chapter song: Waving Through a Window - Dear Evan Hanson**

 **So, I highly recommend checking out that song. I can't praise Ben Platt enough.**

 **As alway, feel free to guess the song :)**

 **Sorry for being a day late. This story will now assume it regular posting schedule (every Sunday) Huge shout out to tdgal1 for being such a great beta. Thank you for reading. We're in for a bumpy ride.**

* * *

"Good afternoon sleeping beauty," Oliver joked after waking up Felicity. The wrinkle between her eyes showed she was obviously confused. She looked absolutely adorable asleep. It was like waking a puppy from its nap.

"What are you doing here?" Her voice was just above a whisper.

"I think the better question is why are you asleep in the middle of the day?" he leaned back on his arms against the coffee table. He was honestly confused. He had meant to drop by to visit her, but instead found her deep in slumber.

"There was an emergency here last night so I haven't sleep since Thursday night," she rubbed the sleep from her face with her hands and sat up on the sofa.

"That's not healthy. You really need to get more sleep." _How often did she have sleepless nights due to work?_ Oliver pondered, _that couldn't be healthy._

"Back to my question. Why are you here?" she stood up and walked over to her desk and motioned for him to follow.

"I came by to say hi. Maybe see how the updated contract is moving," Oliver knew the second half of his explanation was a straight up lie, but it sounded like a decent reason.

"The ball's in your court for the contract. We're waiting on a decision from your Human Resource department," Felicity said pointedly as she started to log on to her computer. He waited for her to continue. "It must suck to work in Human Resources. I wouldn't want to be a resource for humans. Not saying the people who work there a worthless or any less of a human, I'm just saying that their job title is unfortunate. And you're laughing. I'll stop talking now. Sorry, I ramble even more when I'm tired." Her cheeks turned a rosy pink color and she gave the smallest of smiles while ducking her head into her chest.

"What if I said I liked it?" He tilted his head to the side.

"I'd say you're crazy," She was out right laughing now which made Oliver want her even more. He took a moment to just look at her. Her hair was in disarray, he glasses were still askew, and she was still in her pajamas. Yet, she looked even more beautiful than the girls who threw themselves at him.

"What are you really here for Oliver?" she asked once the laughs finally settled down.

"To say hi." He looked at her face but instead of the adorable smile, she had a pointed look. She was playing with her writing utensil, a red pen, spinning it between her fingers.

"Hello to you as well. Now, I'm going to go home because I'm not entirely convinced I'm awake. So, unless there's anything else…" she trailed off. He knew he would have to come up with something for her to stay. He wasn't one to keep a woman from her sleep, unless it was for other reasons, but he really had to figure out this Felicity character.

"There is something else!" The words slipped out of his mouth before he could actually process them.

"Which is...?" her previously sweet face was turning to one of impatience.

"This expense report," Oliver blurted, "I was working on it and I don't understand it. So I was hoping you could help me out." She looked at him with a frown on her face and her brows knit in confusion.

"You, the COO of a multi-billion-dollar company, came to a competing company's VP for help reading an expense report?" she clearly wasn't buying anything he tried to sell her.

"Yes?" He just then realized how stupid of a lie that must've been because he didn't even have the damn thing with him. Actually, it was still in his email. Plus, the report wasn't even his. It belonged to Walter. It was Walter's responsibility. Oliver's job was just to make sure Walter reviewed it. Which the man obviously did considering he emailed it to Oliver earlier that morning. This whole lie was going to crash and burn.

"Uh huh. So, where is this expense report?" She leaned back in her chair and began gently spinning back and forth. She wore a knowing smile that told him he was caught in his lie. Why couldn't she just be like the other girls, but different? Nothing about he was easy. Maybe that's what attracted him to her. The challenge.

"It's in my email. I figured you're a computer genius; you could find it for me," the lies just kept flowing out of his mouth. It was like he no longer possessed the brain power to think clearly.

"Alright. Let's have you log on to you email account so we can pull it up." She tapped a few keys on the keyboard and motioned for him to come around the desk. He followed her command.

"I thought you were going to hack into it?" he looked at her with earnest. Again, the lies.

"I could. But I'm not going to. It's an invasion of privacy and I try not to break laws unless absolutely necessary. I don't think I'd like jail," she was clearly amused at his ignorance.

"Right… I'll just log on." He decided to keep his sentences short in fear of making himself look even more stupid or have more lies fall out.

"Alright, so you'll click on that. Then, type your information there. Now, just move the report document to that icon. This program will scan it for viruses. It's fast, so we'll create a file for your documents and then it'll be done. Let's just title it your name. The ultimate goal is for the report to end up in this file that has my name on it. Awesome, it looks like your report has finished rendering. Let's just move it to your file. Now, click on the file and we'll move it to mine. No, not next to it, on it. Yeah, now you'll just come on me." Her face turned an unhealthy red color and her arms began waving in the air just as fast as words were coming out of her mouth. "The file! I meant the file. Obviously not you. Because we aren't doing anything. Never. Not that you aren't attractive. Because you are. I've noticed. I mean not noticed. And 3,2,1…" she threw her head in her hands, took a steading breath, and slumped in her chair. "I need to go to sleep."

"Felicity. It's fine. Thank you for helping me," he so badly wanted to laugh, but he knew it would make her feel worse, so he bit his lips to prevent a chuckle from escaping.

"It's really not a problem, I don't get many visitors who don't directly work for me or aren't my boss. So, this is nice," she rested an arm on her desk and meet his gaze. He couldn't break the moment. He eyes were definitely tired, but they were so soft and comforting at the same time. He was quite literally lost in her eyes. It was an experience he hadn't experienced before. This Felicity character was growing to be more mysterious by the second. Was is possible to be turned on by computer technology speak? He would listen to it all day if it meant that he could see her. They stayed in that position for a while until they heard shouting outside her office.

"But sir, you can't go in there!" Gerry's voice rang out effectively killing the moment.

"It's fine, I'm not going in for her," another male voice bellowed. Suddenly, Tommy burst through her office door looking more than relieved.

"Oliver! You are here! I've been looking for you everywhere. I even had to get your location from your assistant," Tommy spoke at rapid fire speed while practically sprinting to Oliver's side. Meanwhile, Felicity had managed to sit up straighter while Oliver moved to the front of her desk in a poor attempt to cover up their previous compromising positions. He had been in more seductive positions than this, ones that actually were compromising. Yet, somehow that innocent moment held more romance than he had ever experienced before.

"Tommy what are you doing here?" Oliver was genuinely confused. He hadn't told anyone where he had gone. The only person who could have remotely known was his assistant. To think that Tommy would have gone through that much trouble to find him was a bit touching if he were to be honest.

"Looking for you. I just told you that." Tommy wore a goofy, lopsided grin as he took in the scene in front of him. Oliver could feel the judgment radiating from his childhood friend.

"Alright then… Felicity and I were about to work on something," Oliver decided to just continue with the ongoing lie. It was worth it at this point. The damage had been done. He dug his hole three feet. Might as well go the full six feet under. Plus, judging by Felicity's face, she wouldn't mind.

"So this is the infamous Felicity you were talking about." Tommy gave Felicity a smile that Oliver had learned to be his move to try and seduce a girl. That wasn't going to work on Felicity. He should know, he tried that already. "What do you mean work? You never work on anything."

"Well I am now. Maybe we should get lunch after this?" Oliver just reverted back to his tactic of distracting Tommy. His closest friend was starting to seriously hinder his nonexistent plans with Felicity.

"Only if Felicity joins us." Tommy waggled, actually waggled his eyebrow at Felicity.

"What?" Up until that moment Felicity had been silent. Which was odd. Oliver had never seen her willingly not say anything before. He figured she was either still reeling from their moment, or it was sleep deprivation. For his own ego, he sure hoped it was the former.

"Yeah, Felicity, you need to join us." Tommy tilted his head giving his best blinding smile that Oliver knew to exist.

"I don't think…" She looked dubious.

"Please Miss Felicity?" Of course the puppy eyes would come out now.

"Alright, fine. I'll go. But I need to change first." She gestured to her still present pajamas and looked utterly put out.

"Well, we still have the reports for you to walk me through," Oliver wanted her to feel somewhat comfortable. So, back to that stupid lie he came up with. Why couldn't it have been a decent, more believable lie? One that didn't include work or effort.

"Oh, you still want to play that game?" She actually smiled what looked like a genuine smile. Oh how he dreamed he could see that smile everyday. It was melting his heart. She could ask for a plane and he would buy it for her no questions asked.

"I'm serious, I really do need help." Just continuing his lie, Oliver smiled a true smile. Not a smile that he used for the girls who tried to flirt with him, nor the smile he used to try to get a girl in bed. Not even the smile he used for his parents in order to pacify them.

"That, I'm certain of," she joked. The pen was back in her hand, being played with by nervous fingers.

"Will you help me, Felicity?" He tilted his head unintentionally; and their previous deep gaze had started up again.

"Guys, I will throw cold water on you. I'm not above it," Tommy looked obviously uncomfortable with just the two of them in a room, "Just meet me at Big Belly burger on Evansdale street at one." He tossed Oliver a knowing look before turning to the door. Tommy left just as fast as he came.

Before either Felicity or Oliver could figure out what was going on, Felicity's phone rang. Oliver did his best to not pay attention to her phone call since it sounded like it was between her and her boss, Ray. Instead he got lost in his thoughts once again. Honestly, this was the most thinking he had done in a long time. It was starting to make his head hurt. But, it couldn't just be in his head that Felicity returned his intentional advances. They had shared a moment. Two, if he were being honest. What was happening? She was being so confusing. At least she had sleep deprivation to blame. He had nothing. Those were just his raw feelings, spilled all over the situation. Now the headache was truly present.

"Sorry about that, Ray wanted to know if I had burned down the building yet. Not that I would. I'm not an arsonist. You probably think I'm crazy now. Which I guess is fine." She played with her hands throughout her babble. But, her face didn't turn red.

"I don't think you're crazy." What was he doing? This flirting needed to be shut down now.

"Why don't we just get to work on those reports?" She went back to looking at her computer screen intently. As if she was actively trying to block him out for the moment.

"I would appreciate that." He honestly would. The whole situation has just turned from uncomfortable to unbearable.

 **2240**

Felicity helped Oliver for a solid two hours until she decided there was no hope. Oliver knew it was because she had caught him looking at her. He couldn't help it. Given the choice between staring at numbers and a beautiful girl, he would choose the latter. The expense report made even less sense if that were possible. Honestly, it didn't even matter because the report was quite literally not his problem; it was Walter's. But, it had scored him two almost interrupted hours with Felicity. Maybe there was a bright side to working?

Regardless, Oliver had driven to Big Belly Burgers while Felicity opted to go home and change then meet to two guys there. It was funny really, that well-put together Felicity would even consider going out with the two Neanderthals. But, she wasn't really given the choice. Oliver had thrown puppy eyes at her and Tommy wouldn't stop pestering her. Plus, really, who could pass up a meal at Big Belly? She had changed into a casual pair of jeans and a t-shirt and was ready to endeavor though a lunch with the newest people who would talk to her. She walked through the diner's doors to find Oliver and Tommy already seated for lunch. They looked deep in conversation. Until Tommy made an undisguisable animal noise and Oliver hollered with laughter. Why did she agree to this again? Right, the food. _Just focus on the food,_ Felicity reminded herself, _and nothing or anyone else._

"Miss Felicity! You came!" Tommy was the first to notice her.

"Please just call me Felicity. I hate addresses," Felicity gracefully slid into the booth beside Oliver. Seeing as it was obvious he had made a spot for her and the other option was Tommy, Oliver's side seemed like the better choice. She was handed a menu and a water glass was immediately placed in front of her by a very attentive waitress. She figured Tommy had been flirting with the poor woman before she same to warrant such treatment.

"But you live at an address?" Tommy had the sweetest look of confusion mixed with childlike innocence.

"Ahem. Nevermind him. What would you like to eat Felicity?" Oliver burst in.

She ordered a simple burger with fries and a chocolate milkshake. Usually she would order fries, but seeing as Oliver and Tommy had enough to share she figured she could just swipe some off their plate. She had skipped breakfast; so, Felicity was bouncing with anticipation for her food. Maybe she looked too excited to eat. She was surprised to find the boys had enough chivalry in them to stop eating and wait for her to receive food until they could all indulge in their meals. Meaningless banter was exchanged between the three of them until her food arrived.

"Who's starving you Felicity?" Tommy asked once the food was placed on the table. She glared at him, the angrily bit into her sandwich. Deciding to backtrack Tommy continued, "So, how are you Felicity? Oliver's told me virtually nothing about you."

"That would most likely be due to the fact he doesn't know me. He just showed up at my office one day. Much like you did. Why were you even there?" She asked.

"Oh, Ollie had called me yesterday and I wanted to see what he needed," Tommy gave the weak explanation. He played it off as if it were nothing and fiddled with his eating utensils.

"And the phone wasn't working?" She wore the same dubious face that Oliver had earned with his cover story. Really, they could stand to work on their cover stories. It was a reminder for her to not ask them to cover for her. She thought that their practiced life style as playboys would earn them the practiced skill of lying. Clearly they needed some help in their fictional endeavors.

"He didn't pick up. Besides, we like trying to find each other. It's like playing the adult version of hide and seek," Tommy excitedly explained. Looking around the diner nervously, he refused to make eye contact with anyone and seemed to shift in his seat.

"You both need to come up with better excuses for your actions." She decided to put the poor guy out of his misery and end the conversation right there. Going back to the meal, she picked up one of Oliver's fries and tossed it in her mouth. He watched her take his food in amusement, but didn't comment on it.

"So, Oliver how's Laurel doing?" Tommy asked taking the opening for a topic change in stride. Maybe it wasn't the best choice of topic, but it was better than talking about his and Oliver's choices of fabricated stories.

"You know? The strangest thing happened yesterday. Remember the fight we had over Janice?" Oliver shoved multiple fries into his mouth. He was well aware that Tommy knew what happened, but wanted to see how his friend would respond to his new development. Oliver was already suspicious of Laurel's behavior and Tommy's lack of attentiveness to his phone. So, wondering how the conversation would play out interested him thoroughly.

"Well, apparently I missed everything," Tommy laughed remembering the night at the club. He looked over to Felicity who was actively trying to ignore the conversation by inhaling her milkshake, "But I'm sure Felicity remembers." If he was being dragged into this mess, she could suffer too. Really though, it was his fault for opening the can of worms.

"Seriously? Like I would want to remember being accused of sleeping with Oliver. Then I had to listen to Laurel complain about you the rest of the night. Horrible evening. That's exactly why I don't go out anymore. Computers don't cheat on you, then yell at each other with absurd accusations. I can speak the computer's language. Human interactions are just getting more and more confusing. My blessed Python never acts the way you Neanderthals do."

Felicity causally ignored the boys stunned stares. She looked at her milkshake as if it was an intricate piece of technology she needed to decipher. She hadn't meant to spill out so many words, but they escaped her like a bat out of hell. That always seemed to happen when she was put in an awkward situation. Tommy was honestly amazed at how many words were able to come out her mouth in such a short amount of time. So, he just stared. Oliver who was starting to get used to her rambling, realized this piece of gibberish was different. It had hidden feelings; feelings that he could try to untangle later. Right now, he was flashing back to his girlfriend who had accused Felicity of sleeping with him. He rubbed the back of his neck while he tried to explain his way out of the whole mess.

"Uh… look Felicity. I want to apologize about Laurel. I didn't tell her there was anything going on between us. She just assumed. I promise you, I wouldn't have let her talk to you that way had I known she was going to say. I just didn't know." Oliver had the decency to look apologetic. He even slowed his sentences, while ducking his head in shame. It was amusing to see him remorseful for something for the first time in his life.

"I gathered that when you looked like a fish who forgot how to swim," Felicity smiled and twirled a spoon in her milkshake. Clearly, it was to thick to drink. "Honestly, let's just forget the whole thing. I'd rather not try to figure it out; and, quite frankly, I don't have the time to investigate your love life."

Oliver nodded and went back to eating his food. The three were about to go into another uncomfortable bout of silence when Tommy looked back and forth between the two and opened his mouth again, "What were saying Oliver?" he shamelessly put his friend back into the Hot Seat.

It was funny how Felicity could make him forget about Laurel. While he wasn't particularly close to Laurel, she was usually in the back of his mind during most of the day. Especially when he was thinking about relationships or other girls. He would immediately think about how angry Laurel would be at him for even talking to another girl. Somehow Felicity changed that norm. However, he knew that even if Laurel had entered his mind, Felicity would be worth the reprimand.

"Oh right, I was saying that Laurel came over to my place yesterday and she was acting all … I don't know, not Laurel," Oliver answered. He looked at Tommy as if his friend would have an idea as to the cause, but continued to eat.

"What does that mean?" Tommy shoved another handful of fries into his mouth. He shifted in his seat, uncomfortable with Oliver's glare.

"You know? Not Laurel. She was acting calm and strange. She was like 'I forgive you' without so much as a fight or fighting words. No accusations were thrown at me. I don't know. But apparently we're okay. Unless she was doing some crazy chick thing I don't understand and I'm supposed to apologize for not picking that up too," Oliver bit aggressively into his burger. He and Tommy looked at Felicity expectantly as if she represented all females or had the magic answer to the entire situation.

"Don't look at me boys. I'm by no means an expert at relationships. That is if you can even qualify you and Laurel as a relationship," she adjusted her glasses and shook her disapprovingly. Honestly, those boys were just clueless.

"Right. Besides, Laurel can just be confusing. I'd just take her forgiveness in stride and move on. Seems like she knew what she was doing," Tommy quickly assured Oliver. He gestured for the waitress to come over and refill their drinks.

Tommy was quick to reassure Oliver and it was making the other womanizer suspicious. Tommy was never one to move past a relationship problem quickly. In fact, he usually dwelled in Oliver's relationship woes. To completely stray away from the the situation, was very unlike Tommy. Why were Oliver's closest friend and girlfriend acting so weird? Oliver filed that bit of information away to think about later. He had done enough thinking lately and it was time for a break. So, he just decided to keep the banter light and move the conversation forward rather than call Tommy out; especially in front of Felicity.

"Fine, but if this comes back to bite me, I blame you, Merlyn." Oliver pointed his French-fry in Tommy's direction before popping it into his mouth.

"Hey, I know all about girls. They're my specialty." Tommy leaned back on the booth back with his arms folded over his chest. They heard a strangled choking sound that sounded like a masked laugh that was trying to be covered by a cough. "What?"

"I wouldn't call you an expert, Tommy. An expert would be able to hold do a girl for longer than a month, even a week," Felicity shook her head, scuffing at him. She took a long drink of water in order to clear her airway.

"Well, I've had a lot of girls. So, therefore, I've had a lot of experience?" He changed his tactic. With shrugging shoulders, he gave her a matching smirk.

"Nice try. It doesn't work that way. The only expertise you have is on how to be a man-whore," Felicity joked and threw both of the boys a knowing look over her glasses.

"Why Felicity, I'm hurt," Tommy mock pouted on his seat, "Maybe you should teach me your ways on how to keep women around, back at my place?"

"No thanks. But I'd rather keep my record of being STD free," her response couldn't have come back faster. There was no way she would willingly go to Tommy Merlyn house. She'd rather go back to the club and risk another inaccurate verbal accusation than go to a philanderer's bachelor pad.

"Whoa whoa whoa, Smoaky, who said we were sleeping together?" Tommy asked.

"You've slept around so much that just being within five feet of your living quarters would probably earn me the disease," she pointed out.

"Fair enough. Seriously though, will you come over?" Tommy was trying so hard, but it wasn't working. Felicity just laughed in response. She decided there was no point in staying if the goal of the meal was to get into her pants. So, she simply picked up her purse and left the booth. No amount of food was worth all of the flirting that was being inflicted upon her. She saw Oliver whack the back of Tommy's head before she disappeared to the parking lot.

 **2130**

She left the diner feeling thoroughly done with boys for a while, yet not ready to go home. Work, she needed some good ole' computers to make herself feel better. Those devices always got her back in her normal mood. While yes, she was tired, lunch had given her her second wind. So, she used the trip between Big Belly Burger and Palmer Technologies to do some self evaluation. She honestly didn't know what to make of Oliver. When she looked at him, she quite literally lost control of all her body movements. She had even been stuck in a moment of silence without feeling the need to fill it with her usual babbling. It was a new experience for her; and she wasn't sure how she felt about it. Everything felt so muddled and undistinguishable. She needed something pain and simple: like software configuration management.

She went back to her office, not caring about her casual outfit considering she was originally wearing pajamas. Really this was an improvement. Turning her computer on again, she immediately logged onto her account and began to work on the programing for her latest project with Ray. They were creating a watch that would detect heart rates, take the temperature of its surrounding environment, and access the internet. It was called a SmartWatch and this was their third version of it. Her job was to code the operating system that would be installed onto the device since it now had a larger display screen. It was a simple venture, but complex enough to keep her interested. The little tasks that Ray would delegate to her made her feel still included in the science world, but she was well aware that her job was mostly political and leadership run now.

"Knock knock," Ray tapped on her office door while walking into her office. He sported a loose t-shirt with khakis and wore a large, lopsided grin. He came with a two files in his hand along with a tray of coffee. The aroma drifted throughout her office and assaulted her nose. How could this man always know exactly what she needed?

"You do realize that knocking on my door while saying 'knock, knock' is redundant?" Felicity asked him as she accepted an offered coffee. It was made with sugar and a touch of cream, just how she liked it. She embraced the cup with her hands and deeply inhaled its scent. Maybe the coffee would sustain her for the rest of the day. She had thought about going home to get some sleep, but threw out the idea when she realized it would completely mess up her sleep cycle. She may as well just stay up until night time to stay on track.

"So you've told me," Ray laughed and placed a file on her desk. It was noticeably thin which indicated it was a new project. The label read CLASSIFIED, which was unusual. Most of their projects remained proprietary, but none of them really remained hidden from another.

"What's that?" She pointed to the file and stood up from her chair. She decided to join him on the opposite side of her desk.

"That would be the latest outlines and drafts of our newest adventure," Ray's eyes lit with glee and he looked like a kid in a candy shop.

"And what is our newest project?" Felicity picked up the file and began to skim it over. Inside there were a plethora of charts and diagrams. It looked like he was building a device of some sort. She passed the documents that told her he had already received the funding for it and the projected revenue. In a rare situation the funding completely exceeded the amount of revenue it would bring in. She couldn't help but wonder why the project had been approved by the board in the first place.

"We're working on a small device that should be able to infiltrate an expertly coded software system," Ray spoke slowly and deliberately.

"What? Assuming that it even can be done, why would we even have the need for such a device?" Felicity spoke quickly. Her eyebrow arched in a mix of confusion and suspicion.

"You never know. We've had a lot of attempts of people trying to get into our network. So really, this is just the reverse engineer of your firewalls that you've coded," Ray spoke with confidence. Leaning against her desk, he took the file that she had outstretched for him.

"This is exactly why I do the software and you do the hardware. I'm telling you now, this is quite literally impossible to make. The only time I've come close to something like this was back in college. Trust me, it's not worth going back," she decided to sit back down at her desk. Ray had never once asked her to do something in the moral gray area. It didn't feel comfortable and she really didn't think she should have a hand in the tech that could possibly be used for evil or shut down an infrastructure.

"If you don't want a part of this project, you don't have to be. I have something else in the works that you might be interested in instead," Ray handed her the second file he had brought into the office. This file was a little thicker and contained the same legal documents along with a few schematics of the device. "This is something our employee Curtis has been working on. I'd like for you to join him. It's a battery that could theoretically be used as an infinite power source. He said he had mentioned it to you once, but you were in the middle of countering another cyber attack of ours,"

Felicity looked over the file intricately and made sure to embrace every detail. She knew that once Ray had brought up Curtis the project would be completely guilt-free. But considering the project he originally proposed, she wasn't about to take any chances. It had received a fraction of the funding that it required. Yet, the revenue exceeded the cost of production by an astronomical amount. Honestly, she didn't know why this one wasn't funded but the other project had complete backing. Felicity was well aware of the politics the board had put in place, but at this rate, the board was dictating what the could or could not make. She assumed they might have personal agendas considering the type of projects that were being endorsed. This was a little shocking to say the least.

"I'd be happy to work with Curtis. We already get along; I think we'd work on a project quite well. I'm just a little concerned as to what my part would be. The battery doesn't require much coding, so it'd be mostly Curtis running point," Felicity leaned back in her chair and motioned for Ray to sit down. Clearly this was going to be a deep discussion.

"Great! If Curtis was by himself on this, it would take years to develop; maybe even a decade. You'd be mostly running point on this. I suggest talking to Curtis to see what he needs. If the board knows that you're directly involved in this, then it'll get more funding," Ray obediently sat down and took a sip of his coffee.

"I know I'm not usually involved in the politics of this company, but I have to ask, Ray. What's going on? Why all our new projects seem to have an underlying tone of evil?" Felicity kept a straight face until she said the word 'evil'. Her hands twisted in an awkward motion, her nose crinkled, and her eyes squinted in disgust as the word left her lips.

"I can't really say much. Just know I'm doing all I can to morph the inventions into something useful for the greater good as well. The board has always had their own agenda. It's just more prominent now. I have to go to a meeting, but, I'll talk to more about this later. I'm sorry. Make sure to check in on Curtis. I'm leaving the file with you." Ray stood up and clasped his hand together. He took a moment before leaving to say, "It'll get better. It has to."

Left feeling even more confused than before, Felicity just shook her head and went back to her computer. To think work was supposed to put her in a better mood. Now she had even more questions and mysteries to solve. When had her life become a soap opera? There was literally no place to escape. Home had her mother calling her: it was like Mama Smoak had an alert to warn her when Felicity was alone and by herself. Work held a confusing political game. And she refused to think about her social life. Really, she needed to make new friends. Deciding to change her mindset, she opened the file on the battery. That's when it hit her: she was going to be working in R&D.

After reading the file and annotating it, she went straight down to Curtis Holt's office. The guy could offer some insights on what was required of her. It seemed pretty straight forward from a software view, but the device itself would be incredibly difficult to build. Theoretically it could work, but it would need a lot of love.

"Curtis, how are you doing?" His door was wide open so she opted to call out his name. She wondered what he was doing at the office on a weekend evening, but who was she to judge?

"Ms. Smoak! I didn't realize you would be here. I'm just finishing the casing on your latest watch design," Curtis pointed to said task laying on his workstation. It looked like an empty shell of metal in the shape of a watch. Around it were many pieces of scrap metal along with a blow torch. He held a screwdriver in his hand but wore no gloves nor face shield. Now wonder there were so many problems in this department.

"Felicity, please, Curtis," she reminded him gently, "I'm actually not interesting in the SmartWatch right now. Not that it would matter, you're not even required to be here now. I'm more curious about your other project. The battery?"

"Actually, it'd be more accurate to call it a power-cell. Since we don't know if it's going to be fueled by a chemical process or not, it wouldn't qualify as a battery," Curtis spoke at a rapid fire rate; much like Felicity. It was like she was talking to a male version of herself. Was she really annoying?

"Okay, then how is your 'power-cell' coming along?" She added emphasis and air quotations on the word power-cell. She did not get paid enough to be around the people in Research and Development. While hey paycheck was significant, there really wasn't an amount of money that could buy her to work directly with the scientists in R&D.

"It's going well. I think I might have the casing figured out. I just need to find out what element would meet all of the criteria to meet your expectations. That part isn't working out well," he stood up from his stool and moved over to another section of his work station. It seemed like all of his tools and items were thrown into a pile in the corner of his desk. He would just pull out what he needed for a specific project when it was required.

"That's good to know. I just wanted to let you know that I'll personally be overseeing this project and I can help out in any capacity you need me. Well, coding capacity. I really have no idea about the structure of the thing. But I can handle software. I guess I'm good for funding too, but that's still unclear," she rattled off the information so quickly that she had to stop at the end to think about what she had said. Once she realized what could have been inferred, she winced and shook her head. Felicity really had a way with words given the opportunity. Maybe she should've taken those extra speech classes in college.

"Uh. Thanks Felicity. I guess there are a few areas that could use some coding help. But really, I think I need help white-boarding ideas on how to construct this monster." Curtis played with the casing prototype in his hands as he spoke.

"I can do that. Did you want my help now?" She sat on one of his spare stools and pulled out a laptop. Felicity had brought her trusty device with her anticipating she would need it. Glad that she was not wrong, she logged onto her account and pulled up an empty document so they could start charting their ideas.

"Make yourself at home. Sure, we can work on that now. Let me put this project up first," Curtis laughed. He quickly threw the materials of the SmartWatch into a basket and moved it out of sight. Then, he sat next to Felicity so they could come up with solutions of their power-cell problem. Ideas were thrown out and bounced off the other at a lightning rate. The two were really quite a pair; they got much done in relatively short amount of time. They must've worked for hours because when she looked outside the window it was dark. The moon was bright and she could see the lights of the nearby buildings. One of the great things about having a comparatively small building next to the sky scrapers was she could look up and see all the lights along with all the people on the streets.

"Wow, I can't believe we worked that long," Curtis exclaimed. He looked at their sizable list of ideas and problem solutions like a proud father. It was the most work he had put into the cell since the idea was first brought up.

"It happens to me quite often when I'm engrossed in a project. I'm sorry if I kept you," Felicity apologized. She really did feel bad. Just because she didn't have a life outside work didn't mean he didn't.

"It's fine. I warned my boyfriend earlier today that I might stay late," Curtis waved her off.

That really didn't make her feel any better. Just as she was about to respond, Ray came bounding into Curtis' small work area. He was dressed in the same clothes he had worn earlier which made her question if he really went to his meeting dressed like that. More importantly, he looked distressed.

"What's wrong Ray?"

"Is something wrong Mr. Palmer?" Both Felicity and Curtis asked at the same time.

"I just got off the phone with Mr. Steele at Queen Consolidated. Apparently there was a break-in earlier today."


	6. Tonight I Might Just Lose My Way

**AN: Last Chapter's Song: Totally F***ed - Spring Awakening**

 **I had some extra time, so here's a beautiful snack to hold you over until Sunday.**

 **Huge thank you to tdgal1, without her this chapter wouldn't have turned out this way.**

 **Many thanks for those who are reading/commenting/following.**

* * *

"What happened?" Felicity asked Ray. Her mind searched for what could've possibly gone down at Queen Consolidated. Was there a robbery? A fire? An explosion? No, they would've heard an explosion. A gas leak, maybe? Was Oliver hurt? It was late, odds were that Oliver was out clubbing or home with his family; he had a life.

"Apparently there was a break-in. The intruder didn't take anything. But the guy left a note for Oliver on his desk. It was a death threat of sorts. Crazy," Ray cut off her disjointed thoughts. He was clearly baffled by the turn of events and was talking at rapid fire speed. Thankfully, Felicity and Curtis were able to keep up, having been used to his rambling when he was stressed.

"Wow. Just when you think things couldn't get any stranger; a crazy person pulls this stunt. Seriously, I have half a mind to move if the psychos are going to start coming after business people. Does Oliver even count as a businessman? I don't know," Curtis matched Ray's speed of word delivery. He nervously played with the SmartWatch casing in his hands, clearly distressed.

All the while, Felicity stood idly and took in the new information. What was going on? Was Oliver okay? Why would someone threaten him? Nobody wanted to harm him unless it was a past one-night stand. And she highly doubted some girl, or guy for all she knew, would go through that much effort for revenge. Extortion she could understand; not a death threat. She should really go check on him to see if he's okay; as a concerned business associate. Looking at her watch, she realized it was nearing midnight already. Great, another night of no sleep. She decided to that she would sleep tomorrow or when she died. Whichever came first.

"I should go check on Oliver," she spoke up, in a small voice.

"I didn't realize you two had become close. Is there something else going on that I should know about?" Ray pointed out as he frowned in confusion.

"No, of course not. He's a business partner. We're not close. I mean, we're friends. No, not friends; acquaintances. But I should go visit him to see if he's okay. Which is something a friend would do. So, I guess we're friends. I'm going to go now," she seriously doubted her ability to speak properly. The sleep deprivation wasn't helping one bit. Maybe going to visit Oliver wasn't a good idea.

After excusing herself from the small group, she went to her car, and decided to drive to QC.

Felicity didn't know where else Oliver would be; and the only phone number she had of his was his work number. So, she was off to the large skyscraper in the middle of the city. Really, what could possibly go wrong? She was just a concerned business associate. A concerned associate that came rushing to his side as soon as something went wrong. Totally normal. While she waited for a light to turn green, she realized she really did need sleep. Her lack of sleep was probably why she was driving to QC at midnight. It was unlike her; but, she needed to know what was going on. _Curiosity killed the cat,_ she reminded herself. Thinking about it, sleep was probably the better option.

Queen Consolidated was surrounded by police cruisers, but thankfully no ambulances or fire trucks. They had to have called on the entire police force given the amount of cruisers that lined the building. Felicity opted to park in a parking lot to a building that was across the street, thinking it was the most accessible place. The alleyway was dark along with the streets; only the lights from the cruisers providing visualization. She was actually used to this type of scene since she happened to live on the edge of the Glades. It could be a rough neighborhood, but that's why her house was so affordable. Considering she lived on the edge of the rough neighborhood, she really didn't find herself in too much trouble. Besides, it wasn't like anybody cared enough to lecture her on safety.

Right as she was walking towards the building, she realized she had no idea what she was doing there. It wasn't like the police officers were going to let her waltz up to Oliver's office and have a midnight chat. Not that she could anyway; she had no idea where his office was. She really hadn't thought her actions all the way through. The police might think she was the one to send Oliver the death threat. But, she really wasn't the type of person to send such a thing. There was that one time she had accidently sent a message to one of her employees that had a sexual innuendo, but that was it. Her disorganized thoughts were set back on track when she saw a familiar face talking to a police detective.

"Ms. Smoak! What are you doing here?" she heard a booming British voice that oddly enough gave her some comfort. It was Walter Steele; clearly he had noticed her.

"I heard what happened. I wanted to see if anybody needed my help." It was a weak excuse and she knew it. She might've well just said she came for Oliver. Regardless, Walter looked unaffected by her explanation.

"I'm sure Oliver will be happy to see you. Let me just finish giving my statement and I'll walk you up to his office." Walter turned back to the detective who looked bored with his job. Felicity really couldn't blame him. No one wanted to be out at midnight on a Sunday evening. Her feet danced on the ground since she really didn't know what to do with herself while they talked. Finally, Walter redirected his attention to her once again.

"Now that that business is done here, let's go see Oliver." Walter pointed towards inside the building and gestured for her to follow him. She nodded thankfully to him, and gave a few nods of acknowledgement to the officers who were still wrapping up.

"I don't mean to pry Mr. Steele, but what exactly happened? I heard there was a break-in and death threat, but not much more," she questioned innocently as they boarded an elevator.

"When Oliver came by the office for a scheduled meeting with me, he found a broken window along with the note on his desk. We decided not to take any chances and alerted the police immediately." Walter's voice remained smooth and calm. It was if he was giving the specials of the day at a restaurant rather than recounting a horrible scene.

"Forgive me if I'm reading too much into it, but you seem rather calm." Felicity prayed she wasn't stepping on anyone's toes.

"It was a meaningless note; an empty threat. I'm sure Oliver is just fine, but we needed to cover all our basis." The elevator stopped at the fourteenth floor and Walter disembarked.

Felicity didn't really know how to respond to that, so she chose to remain quiet until she saw Oliver. She was guided down a few hallways until they stopped at a very large office that was occupied by Oliver and three police officers. Walter left her rather quickly for a man who had such a calm demeanor.

"I'm telling you. I don't know who wants to kill me!" Oliver shouted at an officer. He was agitated and pacing in front of his desk. His latest outburst had earned stifled chuckles from two of the officers and a knowing look from the other.

"I'm sure there's someone out there who wants you dead; you probably just can't remember which one," one of the officers replied to Oliver once the laughter was fully contained. It was at that moment Oliver recognized Felicity's presence.

"Felicity?" He addressed her; he's annoyance turned into confusion.

"Last name?" one of the officers asked, not looking up from his notebook.

"No, I meant Felicity. You came." He pointed in her direction causing all three officers to look up and also question her presence.

"Hi. Yeah, I wanted to see if there was anything I could do for you. Not because I sent the death threat. I would never send anything like that to anybody. I mean, I'm good with computers; and I'm smart. Statistically speaking, if I wanted you dead, I'd have a better chance at accomplishing my goal if I were to just try to kill you instead of giving you a forewarning. Not that would try to kill you. I mean, I probably couldn't even manage it physically. I failed my gym classes. What I meant to say is, I'm not a killer. Or a bad person in general. To my knowledge." She took a deep steadying break before closing her eyes; cheeks flushing with embarrassment. While she babbled, Oliver gave her a small smile and the officers were left staring at her in amazement. She needed to go to bed.

"Felicity, I'm glad you're here." Oliver approached her and gestured to an empty chair.

"I'm glad I came." She met his eyes and was instantly distracted from why she was there.

"Now that we've established that this girl most likely didn't leave the message, who is she?" The oldest police officer tried to steer the two into giving helpful information.

"She's Felicity Smoak, the Vice President of Technology at Palmer Technologies. QC is working with them on a deal and we've been in contact," Oliver explained.

"Yes, that I am. I heard about what happened from my boss, Ray. I came over as soon as I could," Felicity tried to stay focused by keeping her sentences short and straight to the point. She was seriously regretting coming. The police officers accepted her story and finished writing a few notes in their pocket books.

"Good to know. Well, we're going to head out now. If there's anything you need from us, we're just a 911 call away," the same officer who had taken control of the communication spoke. With one last handshake, all of them left; leaving Felicity and Oliver alone in the room.

"What happened Oliver?" Felicity asked in order to prevent any awkward silences.

"I came in and found this on my desk," he held up a picture of a note, "and ever since I found it everybody was freaking out."

The note looked like a stereotypical death threat. The words were typed by a typewriter; and, it was on a piece of common computer paper. If the person who composed this knew what he or she was doing, then it'd be untraceable. It read: Your faux cover isn't convincing anyone. Your time is up. I'll come back soon, and next time it won't be a note.

"Seems like a good thing that so much attention was put into it. I mean, this isn't something you can brush off," she said carefully after fully taking in the note.

"Well, it's something the police commissioner shrugged off. He kept saying that it wasn't a big deal. That its just a harmless note. So, I don't think they'll be looking too deeply into it until my dad comes back," Oliver shrugged off his sentences and gathered his stuff. He did a complete 180; it was if a switch had been flipped. Felicity wasn't really sure what to make of the sudden change of emotions, so she proceeded the conversation with caution.

"What? Why would they do that?"

"I don't know. I'm not really concerned. I'd rather just go home tonight and try to shrug it all off," he had his jacket, wallet, and keys ready to go. Oliver almost sprinted out of the office as if he was both literally and figuratively running away from his problems. Felicity not being deterred stayed hot on his heels. While Oliver running away from his problems seemed par for the course, she couldn't understand why he was running away from her.

"So, I understand this situation sucks; but, you need to address it. Death threats aren't something you take lightly," she gently reprimand Oliver once they were on the elevator.

"Look, thanks for coming Felicity; but, I really don't need or want your help. It's fine. This will blow over soon. He jabbed at the ground level button as if that would make the elevator move faster.

"Fine, but I'm not letting this go." She crossed her arms in front of her chest and gave Oliver a pointed look. While he didn't care about the threat, she most certainly did. She cared enough to drag her sleep deprived body to QC at midnight; and, quite frankly she was irritated. Being wealthy didn't come with a pre-requisite of being an asshole. Oliver didn't need to be so rude or brush her off. He seemed genuinely excited to see her, then it was like someone had thrown cold water on him and suddenly she was getting the cold shoulder. What was going on with him?

"I'm sure you won't," he rolled his eyes and let out a long breath. Oh good, the initial Oliver she had met resurfaced. Just when she thought he was starting to turn a corner, he pulls out his 'I'm a dickwad' card. Why did she think he could change? People don't change; even if she wanted them to.

The elevator dinged, alerting them they had reached their destination, and the doors opened. Oliver ran out of the shaft like a bat out of hell to the exit. Throwing her head skywards, Felicity shook her head in annoyance. "It's fine. You're welcome for coming and offering help!" She shouted after him, but realized he was long gone.

"And now I'm talking to myself," she continued the personal conversation, "I need to go home." Felicity looked to the ground and tried to ignore all the people that still occupied the parking lot. Unfortunately, she was still stopped by a detective on the short walk back.

"Excuse me, but what are you doing here?" the man asked her.

"I just came by to see how Oliver, I mean Mr. Queen, was," Felicity mentally reminded herself to stay professional.

"Great. Another bimbo sleeping with him. Don't you all care that he's going out with my daughter?" The man waved his pen in her face.

"I'm sorry, what?" This was getting old fast; she was so tired of being told she was sleeping with Oliver Queen. She's a certified genius, not a bimbo.

"You're sleeping with him aren't you?" He gave a stern look of disapproval.

"No. I'm working with him. I don't think I fully introduced myself. Felicity Smoak, VP of Technology at Palmer Technologies." She held out her hand and flashed him a bright smile. Did all people in this city jump to conclusions? Being around Oliver for two weeks, and she'd already been called a tramp twice. That was two times more than she'd ever been accused of being a slut in her entire life. Whether it was the actual comment that had her 1000% percent done with that night or her sleep deprivation, she was ready to curl up in her bed with a hot cup of tea. She really didn't need this in her life. When her mother said to get out more and make friends, Felicity was pretty sure this was not what she had in mind.

"Sure. You 'work' with him." The detective used air quotes on the word work and effectively ignored her outreached hand.

"Yes. We're business associates. I don't think I caught your name." She was seriously getting tired of being misunderstood. Honestly, the whole evening was going horribly. Either she was starting to hallucinate from lack of sleep, or everyone else was just acting weird. Felicity wanted her bed; all this night was giving her was emotional whiplash.

"Detective Lance. I'm going to be working on this case. Not that there's much of a case. Can't blame a person for wanting to kill Queen. He had it coming." Lance shrugged his shoulders and leaned against his police cruiser.

"I'm sure that's what his parents will write on his grave stone if he dies," she muttered sarcastically, "Lance? As in Laurel and Sara Lance?" She had heard about Sara's father, but never saw the guy.

"One in the same. How do you know them?" He asked as he pulled his phone out of his pocket to ignore a phone call.

"I'm friends with Sara." She answered immediately. _And Laurel called me a tramp_ , she added in her head.

"Oh, you're the girl she's always talking about. The one who graduated from MIT?" He ignored yet another phone call.

"That's me," Felicity pointed at herself proudly.

"Well, even if you aren't sleeping with Queen, I recommend getting as far away as you can from that kid. The only thing he brings is trouble and sexually transmitted diseases," he opened the door to his cruiser.

"Duly noted, detective." She made a move to go finally get to her car and go home. Deciding that sleep was more important than to fight with the detective, she cut her loses. She didn't hold the energy to correct the man or use her loud voice.

"You should go home. No offense, but you look a little worse for wear," the detective advised harshly. He finally picked up the call that he'd been ignoring.

 _That's what I was trying to do,_ she thought. Felicity nodded her head empathically and took the moment to run to her car. Honestly, she was exhausted. That night was more than she had bargained for; and, she seriously regretted even going to QC to start with. She was leaving with more questions than she came with considering nothing about the incident was adding up. No one was taking it seriously; and, that note was most certainly not from a burnt lover. Something was amiss. This was a mystery that needed solving. And she was going to figure it out; no matter what.


	7. We're Gonna Lose Our Minds Tonight

**Last Chapter's Song: Weekend - Priory**

 **As always, thank you tdgal1 for just being amazing.**

* * *

Oliver woke up early in the morning. Well, early for him. He hadn't been able to sleep much since he returned home from the incident at QC. As soon as he walked into his house, his mother had interrogated him with questions on what had happened. While it was awkward to tell her that Felicity Smoak had come running to his side at midnight, it was even more uncomfortable to explain that the police had no intention of looking into the whole ordeal. Really, it wasn't something that Oliver wanted to dwell on, but he did want to know who sent the note. His mother, of course, had become hysterical when she found out that the police weren't going to do anything; and, they didn't even offer to give him protection. He got dressed and hoped he could avoid his mother before he snuck out to see Tommy. Unfortunately, when he came down the large staircase, he was greeted by none other than Moira Queen along with a man who he had never met before.

"Mom, I'm fine. I was just going out to meet Tommy," Oliver assured her before trying to move past the group. While he could stay and deal with his mother, he wasn't in the mood to handle anybody. He just wanted to talk to his friend and get away from what had become his new reality.

"Oliver, I'd like to meet John Diggle," ignoring him, she went ahead and made introductions, "he'll be protecting you until everything is figured out."

"What? Mom, I don't need a bodyguard," he stopped in his tracks and sized up the man. The suit he was wearing didn't quite hide all of his muscles. He had a serious expression on his face and held a very stern stature. The man looked like one of the Men In Black characters straight out of a movie.

"Sweetheart, you really do until this threat is addressed appropriately. I wouldn't be a very good mother if I didn't address your safety," she gave him an encouraging smile.

"John Diggle, nice to meet you," the man introduced himself. He reached out his hand for a greeting.

"I really don't see the need for this. But, if it has to be this way, then he'll have to come to Big Belly for lunch while I meet up with Tommy," Oliver really didn't understand why a body guard was required. It wasn't like there was an immediate threat to his life. Plus, he just wanted to hang out with his friends; not become a typical rich boy.

"I'm sure that can be arranged," Moira smiled, thanked Diggle briefly, then left.

Oliver looked at the body guard named Diggle up and down. He wondered what had made the guy take the position in the first place. He was certainly built to be a bodyguard. If Oliver had to guess, he'd say the man was ex-military. There wasn't any doubt that Diggle could perform his duties, but the idea of having someone follow him around was unsettling. A bodyguard wasn't needed; it was excessive for what had happened. There was a threat, yes; but, it wasn't like anyone had actively tried to kill him. Yet.

"So, Big Belly Burger. My sister-in-law works there," Diggle said. He followed Oliver to the town car and got into the front seat to drive. Oliver would usually take one of his 'babies', however since he had a tail, it seemed more realistic to take the town car instead. He sat in the backseat for a change and put on his seatbelt. The town car wasn't often used by the Queen family since they all had their licenses and didn't frequently use a driver. He was surprised to find that they still owned the car.

"I meet Tommy there for lunch all the time." Oliver figured he may as well talk to the man since it didn't seem like he was going anywhere anytime soon.

"They make a good burger," Diggle drove down the driveway and pulled onto the streets.

"So, what do I call you?" Oliver asked.

"Diggle. Dig for short. Whichever."

"Right. So, how exactly does this work? I mean are you going to follow me into bathrooms and clubs?" Oliver played with the window button and fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. It felt odd to be in a moving vehicle and not operate it. That was something he'd have to get used to.

"I'll stand outside of the bathroom, but I'll be with you just about anywhere else. But, just to make things clear: I'm not your maid. I won't be catering to your every whim. I'm only here to protect you," the man's voice became incredibly serious, but he never broke eye contact with the road.

Oliver really didn't know what to say to that, so he turned to the window, staring at the city around him. As if the threat wasn't bad enough, now he had to deal with a stalker body guard. The police made it very clear that they weren't going to look further into the threat. They were certain it was just another one of Oliver's lovers out for revenge. However, when Walter talked to Oliver about it, he had warned him that the threat may be worse than it seemed. Oliver really didn't know what to make of the whole situation.

Then, Felicity had shown up and it made it just that more confusing. He really didn't want her involved with any of it if there was even the slightest chance of danger. So, he brushed her off as soon as he could in hopes she would just go home. Far, far away from any potential danger. Oliver may not cater to girls, but he didn't want them hurt either. And Felicity, who most certainly was not like any of the other girls, had no business being involved in anything of malice. She was pure, and beautiful inside and out.

The car stopped, alerting him that they had arrived at their destination. Oliver jumped out of the car so fast, that Diggle barely had a chance to take the keys out of the ignition to follow him. When he walked into the diner, he found Tommy already seated and shamelessly flirting with the waitress. He took a seat across from his hopeless friend and let out a long, exasperated sigh.

"Hey, I heard someone finally wanted to take you off the grid," Tommy casually greeted him.

"Why does everyone say that? For once, I'd like someone to not be surprised at the apparent hit on me," Oliver saw his body guard take a seat in the booth next to their table.

"I'd like to be surprised, but with us, it was just a matter of time," Tommy explained.

"Yeah, well, I may have burnt a lot of girls, but none of them seemed crazy enough to try and off me," Oliver waved over the waitress who was doing her hardest to ignore Tommy.

"Dude, did you ever spend enough time with a girl to even know if she was crazy?" Tommy tossed a fry into his mouth, chasing it with a long guzzle of soda.

"Fair enough. Look, can we just not talk about it? I've been doing enough thinking about it to last a lifetime." Oliver ordered his usual meal; a burger with a side of fries.

"Why are you deeply thinking about it? Planning on solving it yourself?" Tommy laughed while checking out the waitress as she walked away from their table.

"No," Oliver said defensively, "I'm thinking about Felicity. She came to QC last night to check on me."

"What?!" Tommy practically joked on his drink, "Seriously, the girls just can't stay away from you."

"It's not like that. I was surprised and happy to see her, but Walter said that I might actually be in danger from this note. So I ended up pushing her away so she wouldn't get hurt." Oliver took a moment to actually realize what he was saying. He knew those were his thoughts on the subject, but to say them aloud to his friend made them so much more real and almost validated his behavior from last night.

"You pushed her away," Tommy looked at Oliver inquisitively and took another bite of his meal.

"Only to protect her. I think. Besides, it's not like she really cared about me. She's a business partner," Oliver defended himself. Though, the excuse fell short on his own ears. Really, he couldn't think of an adequate reason for his behavior. Rationally, he knew that Felicity would be in just as much danger if he had stayed longer or not, but he just needed to get away from her. Maybe he didn't need to be so rude, but he wasn't really thinking at that moment. Everything had become so unbelievably complicated in a relatively short amount of time.

"If she comes running to your side at midnight, she likes you. No business partner of my dad's would come running to his side for the weekly death threats he receives. None that aren't sleeping with him, I mean." Tommy gave Oliver a very pointed look. He eyed the waitress across from them seductively and waggled his eyebrows when she turned to look at the two. Unsurprisingly, he was awarded a disgusted look and a frustrated sigh.

"Whatever, I'm just saying, it's best for all of us I keep my distance and put everything behind me. I'm seeing Laurel anyway," Oliver played with the straw to his drink. He looked over to Dig and found that he had ordered a meal as well and was talking to the poor waitress that Tommy had sexually assaulted with his eyes intently.

"Better for her? Or better for you?" Tommy flashed him a coy smile, "Look, you distance yourself from any girl who could actually mean something. And honestly, I've never seen you react to a girl the way you do with Felicity. Plus, you've never used Laurel as an excuse not to be around another girl. Unless the girl was ugly; and, trust me, Felicity is no where near ugly."

"Didn't I say I didn't want to talk about this?" Oliver angrily splashed some more ketchup in his basket of fries. Tommy held up his hands in mock surrender.

"Fine, fine. We'll talk about something else. Like, why did that guy over there follow you in and is now staring us down?" Tommy pointed over to Dig's direction.

"My mom freaked out and hired me a babysitter. So, he's supposed to follow me around and protect me." Disregarding the idea of a bodyguard, Oliver answered his best friend.

"Protect you from what? The evil note senders?" Tommy joked.

"More likely the person behind the note. But, whatever, it's not like I really need him." Oliver shrugged his shoulders and looked in Dig's direction again. The waitress had come back to his table and the two seemed to exchange some friendly banter.

"Looks like he's having more luck with the ladies than we are," Tommy pointed out.

"That might be his sister-in-law," Oliver concluded.

"Wow. No wonder I wasn't scoring with her," said Tommy.

"Or you just need to up your game," Oliver joked.

Tommy smirked and ate the last bite of his sandwich. Even though Tommy had eaten all his food, Oliver's basket was still somewhat full. So, they threw some more jabs at their romantic endeavors. Then, Oliver and Tommy collectively decided to head back to the Queen's mansion for a movie and maybe a swim in the pool. Of course, as usual, the two planned to go to the club later that night. Even if he wasn't able to confront his problems, Oliver could certainly try to drink his problems away.

Later that night at the club, Oliver and Tommy were sitting in their normal booth in the back enjoying themselves immensely. Oliver had long since ditched his bodyguard at the front door. Much like one would check a coat in before entering an event. While the man was just doing his job, Oliver seriously doubted anyone would actually try to kill him at a crowded nightclub. The place was packed and the music was deafening. While it was quite dark in the club, it was highly populated. Unless he was planning on partying in the back alleyways, Oliver felt he was decently safe from harm. That was until Laurel showed up. With the intent to get drunk, Oliver ordered another round when he saw her walking in their direction.

"What are you doing? Following me?" Oliver slurred. He was tipsy, but he was positive he hadn't alerted her to his whereabouts. If anything, he was more likely to forget about her while drunk.

"No. I just figured this is where you'd be. I wanted to see if you were okay after last night," Laurel sat down beside Oliver and completely invaded his personal space. She snuggled into his shoulder while he anxiously tried to crawl away.

"So you waited 24 hours after the fact?" Oliver took a huge swig of his drink. He tried to move away from Laurel, but every time he moved, Laurel followed.

Honestly, Oliver wasn't really sure why he kept Laurel around. It wasn't anything that she did, it was more about him not being genuinely interested in their relationship anymore. If it took that long for Laurel to even show up or ask how he was doing after his life was threatened, then he wasn't really interested in pretending that everything was okay. Felicity came the minute it happened, and he wasn't even dating her. In fact, he had been quite rude to her. Yet, she still showed up to his rescue. Then, like the horrible person he was, he shoved her away. It was for her safety though, right? That's what he kept telling himself.

"I couldn't find you sooner," Laurel pouted.

"Yes, because my house is so hard to find," Oliver said sardonically. Two could play at that game.

"Well, I just now had a chance to come," she batted her eyes at him.

Oliver really didn't see the point of entertaining the conversation any further. He was running out of energy to put up with her. Instead of validating her blatant lies with a response, he downed his drink and called out to the server for another round. Oliver scanned the room for Tommy in a desperate attempt to look anywhere but in Laurel's direction. If he were being honest with himself, talking to Laurel was becoming a chore. It wasn't like Laurel was actually invested into their relationship. She seemed perfectly happy with her position as a trophy wife. Unfortunately, he wasn't in the position to call her out on the meaningless relationship. So, he was stuck with the fighting and nagging until one of them cried uncle. He was going to need a lot more alcohol if she was going to be staying.

"Look, Ollie, I just want us to go back to normal. Everything was fine with us before you decided to go off and sleep with that blonde slut," Laurel leaned over and played with his hair between her fingers.

"What blonde slut?" Oliver thought for a moment, "You mean Felicity?"

"Sure, whatever her name is. Why couldn't you just stick to your normal tramps?"

Laurel was so close to him she might as well have been sitting on his lap.

Oliver took a moment to actually think before speaking. This was Felicity they were talking about; he needed to proceed with caution. Plus, her last question really got him to think. Why didn't he just go for the regular girl he slept with? Why was Felicity different? He was rendered completely speechless and lost the brain cells he had left every time he was around her. To think that this girl had so much control over him was baffling; he didn't even sleep with her! Oliver was still recovering from his reeling mind when Tommy came over with a new drink concoction in his hand.

"Hello, hello. I have what I like to call: dementia. Because when we think this, no one will remember anything!" Tommy placed a cup in front of each of them, pouring a heavy amount of the purple-ish substance into them.

"Um. Thanks Tommy," Oliver managed to get out, but, it sounded more like a question.

"What are we talking about?" Tommy asked ignoring the questioning looks his two companions were giving the drink. He took a huge gulp of his own and slammed the cup back on the table with gusto.

"Why Ollie decided to sleep with 'Felicity'," Laurel said the name as if it were poison on her tongue.

"Felicity? Oh, Oliver didn't sleep with her," Tommy pointed out after another long gulp of the drink.

"Really? You sleep with everyone so that's hard for me to believe. Why wouldn't you jump at the chance to sleep with her?" Laurel gave Oliver a pointed look. She gently pushed the drink away.

"Probably because Felicity won't let him near her with a ten-foot pole," Tommy laughed while finishing his drink off, going for Laurel's next.

"Not true," Oliver adamantly denied, "she just doesn't want to have sex. Or probably be near me after last night."

"So you have feelings for this girl?" Laurel asked, looking angrier by the minute.

"No. Yes. I don't know. She's just there; and, she makes me confused every time we're together," Oliver stumbled through his explanation.

"You know; I could handle all the side projects because I knew they didn't mean anything. But, I won't stand for you actually caring about another girl the way you're supposed to care about me," Laurel stood up from the booth and collected her belongings. "Once you reevaluate yourself and your decisions, come back to me."

While Oliver didn't want Laurel to stay, he wasn't thrilled at the prospect of having another argument either. So, in choosing the lesser evil, he let her go without a fight. Dealing with Laurel always proved to be taxing, and this night had been even more exhausting than usual. He slouched against the back of the booth in defeat before looking to Tommy as if he held all the answers.

"Look at that! Seems like you need more help in the relationship avenue than I do." Tommy pointed out. With those words of realization, Oliver took his drink of dementia and inhaled it in one go.

By early morning, Oliver and Tommy had drunk countless concoctions and were well past inebriated. That was when he decided calling Laurel was a good idea. When the ninth call told him she wasn't going to be picking up anytime soon; so, he called the next person on his contact list. After three rings, a very groggy voice came on the line, "Oliver? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine! I'm at Poison tonight!" Oliver shouted loudly into the phone. He heard a wince on the other end before the voice continued.

"So, nothing's wrong?" the voice grew from concerned to agitated.

"Other than all the alcohol I've ingested which might lead to alcohol poisoning; nothing that I can think of." Oliver laughed and brought another cup of sludge to his mouth. There was hesitation on the other end of the line.

"Do you know how much sleep I've gotten in the past three days?" the person was definitely angry now.

"No?" Oliver was confused as to what the question meant and why it had been asked.

"I know you don't. Because if you did, you wouldn't be calling me at 2 am," the voice cut him off. "Why are you calling me anyway?"

"I don't know. I just called the people on my contact list. You picked up." He looked at the phone screen. After clearing his eyes and concentrating for a bit, he realized he had called Felicity. At 2 o'clock in the morning.

"So, the lesson learned is don't pick up my phone for you after eleven pm,"she sounded wide awake and serious.

"I guess? I didn't mean to call you. You looked like you needed sleep. But, since I have you on the phone, maybe we could talk?" Oliver smiled.

"Usually I love talking, but it's 2 am. I'm going to pass on the, what I'm sure would be riveting, conversation and go back to sleep," she was just about to hang up when Oliver spoke up again.

"Wait! Maybe I could sing you a song? They've been playing a lot of songs that made me think of you," he smiled a goofy grin and motioned for Tommy to come over. "Tommy! I have Felicity on the phone!" He redirected his attention to the other guy in the club and ineffectively tried to cover the speaker on his phone.

"That's wonderful!" Tommy was genuinely excited, "Maybe you can tell her how you feel now?"

"No man," Oliver slurred back, "I'm gonna sing her a love song. Will you sing with me?"

"Only if you promise not to tell anyone." Tommy sat next to Oliver in their booth and pushed a freshly filled cup in front of his friend.

"I promise; what song should we sing?" Oliver took a swig at the drink while looking at Tommy with anticipation.

"How about that lion song?" Tommy suggested.

"What lion song? You mean the one from Lion King?" Oliver tried to think of all the other love songs that included lions, but failed.

"Exactly! I think it goes: can you feel the love tonight," Tommy had burst into song. Loud enough that Felicity could hear. Oliver joined in quickly and when they got to the second verse, they made up words and disgruntled sounds since they didn't know the correct lyrics. It sounded like a cat had gotten stuck in the dryer. Multiple patrons stopped to look at their performance just because they couldn't believe two people could sing so off key. For some reason, Felicity stayed on the phone, whether it was due to curiosity or blackmail for later, neither party would know. The horrible duet ended dramatically off key, and Oliver asked Felicity how they did with anticipation.

"You did wonderful. Go try out for American Idol or whatever singing competition is out there now. I'm going to bed," Felicity was about to hang up when she heard Oliver's voice come back. It was the soberest he had sounded the whole conversation.

"Wait, Felicity. I chose that song just for you. I may not know if I love you, but I know you're different than any of the other girls I've met. Laurel left me tonight, most likely for good. And I just want you to know; I care about you. I only pushed you away last night because I don't want you to get hurt because of me. But, maybe just being around me will hurt you. I hurt all of the girls that try to get close to me; I don't want to hurt you. I want to love you. So, will you give me a chance?" Oliver's voice became sincerer as he went on. By the end of his declaration, his voice was so quiet that Felicity had to strain her ears to hear him. She took a long moment to digest the words before she responded.

"Oliver, you're drunk and I'm exhausted. Let's just table this conversation until we're both of sound mind." She paused and chose her words carefully. "Goodnight Oliver, I'll see you later." She hung up the phone leaving Oliver with Tommy.

"Dude, that was deep." Tommy pointed out; still slurring his words. Like a bull in a china room, he picked up his mug of the newest concoction and swung it around before moving it to his lips.

"Do you think she'll stay around?" Oliver asked, a look of desperation firmly planted on his face.

"I don't know. But, you gave it your all," Tommy threw back the rest of his drink, "one thing's for sure, if she runs away, it was probably because of our singing."

* * *

 **AN: So, no answers yet. But we have a Diggle!**

 **New Ch every Sunday. and this is X posted on AO3.**


End file.
